Road to perdition
by Darkshadows92
Summary: "I'm not afraid of a bastard like you" He held her gaze, and distended his lips, both his hands slipping under his chin to hold his head up, completely unfazed by her insulting sentiment "I would measure my words if I were you little girl, you have no idea how much of a bastard I can really be"
1. Chapter 1

**Road to perdition**

 **Chapter 1**

It was pouring down the sky was grey, clouds full of rain covered the sky completely, making it look like a dark curtain. It didn't look like it was going to stop for that day, or ever, because if you looked up, it gave you the impression that there was no way those clouds could actually disappear,or at least, that's the way they looked to her.

Naruko Uzumaki, had woke up with a bright smile that morning and was feeling full of energy, looking forward to her busy day with an optimist feeling that everything that day would be just perfect. It was the start of her new life, and nothing could convince her of the contrary, it just had to be that way, because she couldn't afford to be wrong, not this time when she was finally taking the lead on her own life.

So, she had tied her blonde long hair into a messy bun on top of her head and had made herself breakfast dancing to some random song on the radio, with no care in the world. Only after washing the dishes and getting dressed for the day, she had given a good look out the window, expecting to see the sun shining back at her, but instead was welcomed by menacing looking clouds and grey sky.

It was just her typical luck, right on the day when she had planned her move, a stupid storm had to complicate her plans, and it wasn't like she had much time either to reschedule the damn thing, she had to do it that day.

Her mood had risked to be crushed by the horrible sight, but she was a type of person that wouldn't let a little obstacle get in her way, it would only make things a tad more complicated, but nothing she couldn't overcome, so she had immediately gotten to work, it wasn't like she would let a little bit of rain to stop her.

Except the little bit of rain had turned into a full out storm. Trust Naruko's bad luck to be able to summon all that rain after weeks of drought.

"Are you sure you don't want to wait another day? The rain might calm down, and then it will be easier to move all the stuff"

Sakura , her best friend asked, as she frowned at the difficulty her boyfriend Sasuke and their friends Shikamaru and Kiba were having loading stuff on the truck as she attentively followed their progress spying them from the window. She had been asking the same question since she had arrived with the others, she really wanted the blonde to reconsider her plans because she was worried for her.

"I wish I could Sakura- chan, but you know as well as me that I cannot delay anymore"

Sakura sighed at the blonde, who was just finishing packing up her last things, then she would be out of that place she had called home for the last four years. She was glad she was leaving, those past years had been hell for her.

Life had been so unfair with Naruko. She had lost her parents the same day she was born. No one ever told her who they were and how they had died, the only thing she knew was that she had no other family except for them, so the police department that had found her that fateful night, had entrusted her to the local orphanage where she had spent most of her life in, till, at the age of fourteen, a shady couple had decided to take a child in custody, and the orphanage pushed for that child to be Naruko, since no one had ever wanted to adopt her, she thought it was their way of trying to get rid of her.

So she had took her little suitcase, and moved into the nice looking house, but instead of getting the loving family she was promised, she had found two horrible people, whose only interest was to cash the government's check, and she immediately understood they were in it for the money.

They had her working there as a house maid, when she wasn't in school, abusing her verbally and using any type of insults, they could think of. Because of all that, she didn't have time to dedicate herself on her homework, so her grades were low, and rather hypocritically, she would get beaten up whenever she brought home a bad grade.

Besides all that abuse, that horrrible man, she didn't even want to pronounce his name, had beat her up so many times when he was drunk, that she had learnt to hide whenever he came home . Once it had gotten so bad, she had to be rushed to the hospital because the excuse of a man had drove a knife into her cheeks, marking it with three parallel cuts on each side. She never figured out the reason for such a gesture, but when asked by the doctors how it had happened both of them had blamed it on her, saying the wounds were self inflicted, and that according to them she had mental problems claiming she had been the one to assault them in the first place.

Unfortunately those pieces of garbage had gotten away with it, claiming that they would watch after her mental health.

Authorities had believed them, and she had let them, knowing already that they wouldn't listen to her version anyway, and she was too scared of what would happen if they sent her back to the orphanage, or if she tried to go against them.

Only a doctor, a busty scary blonde woman had left the girl her phone number, not really believing the couple's version, and told a sixteen year old Naruko to call her if she ever needed help. She never did call her, she didn't trust adults that much, and she believed the woman couldn't do much for her anyway, although she would never forget her.

Tsunade Senju, she had memorized the name by heart, had been the first person to show her some kindness.

Her friends had never known the truth, she had dismissed the scars as an accident, and she always tried to hide the truth being always happy and go lucky at school, and in the rare times she could go out with them she always had a big smile on her face, and she would get into all sorts of trouble with the pranks she threw on the teachers and other class mates.

Finally she had told them the truth after graduation, when she could leave that terrible house, being she was almost nineteen, and having a small amount put aside, that she had wisely collected along the years, she had decided to finally move out to live on her own, but after looking around all of Konoha for a decent place to stay, and realizing she couldn't afford even the smallest of places with her small amount, and still no job to count on, she had decided to go and check, against her friend's advice, on the outskirts of the city, a terribly ran down area, where criminals and prostitutes could be seen roaming the streets at night, and where no sane person would ever decide to move to unless they were desperate.

And that's exactly what she was after all, but, for the first time in her life she had had a fair amount of luck.

Quite casually, she had noticed what looked like some sort of premise with a help sign hanging on the door, so she had walked into the shady looking bar, that looked a little bit like the ones she had seen in crime movies, with the pool table on a side, the dim lights, the wooden counter consumed by time, since it looked pretty antique, and the cash register on a side. A bunch of bottles of liquor exposed in the counters on the wall behind the counter, and the greenish old looking stools, and ruined old wooden tables and chairs spread across the room. There was even a passed out person laying on his back, all over one of the table in the furthest angle of the place.

It hadn't been that long since she had been there, but she still remembered it as if it had happened the day before.

 _She had shuddered once she had stepped in, she was3 desperate, but not stupid and that place looked dangerous, and as soon as she had stepped in, something in her mind had told her to run out and take a shower, but she wasn't the superficial type, so, against her own judgement, and trying to bury her prejudices, she swallowed down her fears and went up to the counter, where a weird looking man, or maybe it was a woman, she really couldn't tell, since he/she was dressed in a feminine attire with a snug pinkish tank top and tight leather black pants, with long brown hair that were pinned up and the faintest hint of make up enhanced the feminine features.. The man/ woman, had looked at her with curiosity, and raised an eyebrow at her, following her every movement with his/ her big brown almond shaped eyes, marked with black and thick eyeliner._

" _What can I help you with?" ok, the voice was definitely a male's, his look intimidated her a bit, but she wasn't one to be shy, so she grinned, trying to look natural, which was quite impressive, and gulped down some courage, looking straight into those deep brown eyes._

" _I really need a job, and I noticed that sign…so I am the person you're looking for! Believe it!" she pointed at herself with her thumb, and smiled even wider, hoping to impress the man in front of her._

 _Haku, that was the man's name, gave her a not so convinced look. He thought she was either crazy or desperate for venturing herself in such a place._

" _And why would a pretty girl like you want to work here? Have you seen this place?" he asked with a raised eyebrow widening his arms indicating the bad shape of the place, and she nodded, trying to be convincing._

" _Please! I really need this job! I promise I will be the best employee you could have! I will work hard and be punctual and-" she was almost comical as she begged him with her hands clasped and eyes closed._

 _Haku stopped the girl raising his hand at her, he hadn't caught half of the words she had said, her mouth went a mile an hour, but he wasn't heartless, and took pity on her._

" _I heard enough, what's your name?" he asked, openly inspecting her, massaging his chin with his fingers, looking like he was in deep thought._

" _Naruko Uzumaki"_

 _He hummed looking better at her. She was cute, with her blonde hair tied in a messy bun, her blue eyes wide and bronzed skin, the cheeks were scarred, but they didn't really took away the beauty from her face, it made her more interesting and particular. Her body looked athletic and her hands were a little calloused that indicated that she was used to hard work, and that made him wonder what type of background a girl like that could have. He wasn't sure if that was the right place for her, the people that frequented his place were mostly low lives and criminals, but she moved him a little bit with her determination and begging. He could tell she really needed help, reminding him a little bit of himself when he had been younger and in the same situation._

" _Okay you convinced me."_

" _Really?" she asked with a huge smile, and the brown haired man nodded again, a thought forming in his head._

" _Tell me Naruko, you wouldn't need a place to stay would you?"_

 _Naruko blinked, and nodded at the brown haired man, wondering if he could read her mind, or she just looked that pathetic._

" _I figured that much, come with me" he gestured for her to follow him, and he grabbed a set of keys that were hanging on a little hook next to a white door, before shouting at someone in the back._

" _Suigetsu get your butt out here, I'm leaving for a couple minutes"_

" _Fuck! Fine damn it!" someone answered and Haku rolled his eyes at that and gestured with his head to the girl to go after him._

 _She wondered for a second if she could trust him, after all she was alone, in the worst side of town with a weird man that wanted her to go some unknown place with him. What if he was trying to lure her in a dirty alleyway to rape her? Or what if he wanted to knock her out and sell her organs? . She was naïve, but not stupid, she had heard about the shady businesses and the stories about that place._

" _I won't try anything funny, you can trust me. I am not interested in girls" he must have sensed her hesitation._

 _She gulped, only partially reassured, but at least now she just had to worry about her kidneys, she had heard those were the first to go._

 _She tightened her small brown purse to her side and went after the man that lead her outside the bar, taking a sharp left, they ended up in a small alley, and she felt her fears resurface, but she swallowed loudly, and just kept walking behind him and she was surprised when they got out the other side, and ended up in a little housing area, andHaku stopped at the beginning of the road, where a small two story house was situated._

 _It looked run down and neglected exactly like the rest of the buildings in that part of town, the greenish paint was chipped of in some parts, and the wooden doors and windows were old looking and looked rotten in some areas, the grass around it was left to grow wild, all in all it looked like a dump, exactly like the rest of the area, but it's not like she could have some pretenses._

" _I know it's not a luxurious place, but if you need somewhere to stay, I can rent the bottom part to you"_

 _Haku explained as he turned the key in the lock, which looked a little bit of a hassle, since it was old and rusty, and the man almost had to forced it open to let them in._

 _They walked in a little foyer like area, where there was a door in front of them and a flight of stairs on the left, that lead to the second floor._

" _Me and Zabuza, my partner, live upstairs, if you would ever need anything" he gently offered, and he opened the door for her, so she could give the place a look._

 _Her blue eyes inspected the place but she couldn't really find any objection to it._

 _The floors had moquette on the floor that might have been grey once, and the walls were a bit dirty and would surely need painting._

 _The living room didn't have furniture in it but she could gather some things and she had the freedom of arranging it how she wanted._

 _The kitchen was on the right, it was a horrible faded yellowish color and old fashioned, some handles and doors needed some repairing but she could do that once she lived there, and all in all it wasn't that terrible._

 _The bathroom was maybe the worst part, it was terribly small with depressing brown tiles on the wall, a small sink, the toilet in an angle, and a small shower on the other hidden by a half broken shower curtain._

 _Yes, she would surely need to work on it, but nothing could crush her enthusiasm, and she already thought of it as her home._

" _Haku! You just saved my life!" she grinned warmly at him, and he smiled, feeling immediate affection for the girl._

Sakura shook Naruko out of her day dream, sitting on the horrible orange bean chair her friend had bought for her new house and that was waiting to be loaded.

"Naruko, are you really sure you want to do this? I have seen that place and it's…" she couldn't find a kind enough word to define the apartment her friend was going to live in. To her it was a small, horrid pit hole, and the people that lived around the area weren't really the best neighbors one could have, but Naruko was enamored with it, and no one could make her change her mind. Not even Sasuke's snarky comments, or Shikamaru's quiet disapproval.

"Sakura- chan, Haku is a really nice guy, and I will be fine, I told you already that you shouldn't worry"

"Yeah, I know, but I don't understand. We could have rented a house together, Ino and Hinata had agreed, we would share the expenses and everything"

"It's too expensive for me, I have already barely enough to pay for college expenses, and I couldn't find a job here, no one wants to hire someone like me" the blonde explained as she closed one of the last boxes. She didn't own much, and the furniture she had bought for a small price from a local thrift shop, had already been brought to her new place.

"Sasuke and Iruka sensei have offered to loan you the money you needed" Sakura reminded her, a small pout gracing her thin lips, and Naruko frowned as she thought about her Sensei, that was more of father figure to her, than a teacher, but she had turned down his offer to help her too, as Sasuke's, his family was still dealing with their own personal drama, she couldn't bring her problems into the mix.

"You know I can't accept" The blonde stressed, pulling the box near the door with the others.

The pink haired girl sighed, she was aware Naruko was a stubborn girl, and always looked at things from an optimistic point of view, but sometimes she wished she could be just a little more aware, especially because the area she was moving too was considered one of the most dangerous of the city and still she acted as if nothing was wrong. It unnerved her deeply, she had even considered of beating some sense into her, but to no avail, the blonde wouldn't give up.

"All done Dobe, do you have other stuff we need to load?" Sasuke was all drenched in his rain coat, and his expression was annoyed, which wasn't unusual for the Uchiha, he always looked like he had something up his ass, so the blonde payed no mind to him.

"Just these boxes, then we can go, now I only need to find Kurama" She told the Uchiha, that without another word, took the last boxes in his arms with a huff and walked off.

"I will bring down this thing then and wait for you in the car"

Sakura grabbed the orange horror she had been sitting on and fled after Sasuke.

Naruko nodded grateful for her friends. Now, the only thing that was left for her to do was look for her cat.

She had adopted him as a kitten just a few years ago, and had kept him hidden in her room all that time because she knew the people she lived with would never allow her to keep a pet, but when they weren't home, he roamed freely, hiding in the most unlikely of places, exactly like it was doing now.

She grabbed the small animal cage Kiba had given to her as a gift, and looked around the house and when she found the red furball, she noticed he had left a little gift on the precious carpet in the living room.

She couldn't help but grin, and took the animal, that was now a healthy eleven lb. cat into her arms, careful of his sharp claws.

"I guess you didn't like these people either huh? I can't really blame you"

She had took the habit of talking to her cat, even though some of her friends (the Teme mostly) called her insane for it, but what else could she do, she did feel lonely sometimes and the cat was the only family she had, so she would talk to it if she wished to do so.

"Here Kurama, be good we are going to our new house now, and you will be free to roam wherever you want. You just need to be a little patient ok?"

She put him delicately in the little cage, and grinned at him. He looked comfortable in there.

"Well Kurama" her voice sounded a little nostalgic, but she was smiling as she gave one last look at the place she had spent the last four years of her life in, although it didn't feel like she was leaving her home, it had never been such a thing for her, and she didn't harbor any affection towards the building or the people that owned it.

"This is the start of our new life, I hope you are excited just as much as I am" she gave a quick look at her pet, and furrowed her brows. Kurama was licking his tail with no care of what she was blabbering about, and she smiled at that, getting a hold of the cage she walked out and jumped into her friend's car, giving the house a quick glance before turning to smile at Sakura.

"Ready to go?" the pink haired girl asked her, clutching the steering wheel with both handsin a nervous gesture, that didn't go unnoticed by Naruko, but she chose to ignore it, because she was sure of the choice she had made for herself. She didn't want to depend on anyone, and this was the only way, she wouldn't let Sakura, or anyone else convince her of the contrary.

She leaned a little bit against the door of the car, setting Kurama's cage on her legs, it was only a half an hour ride, so there was no point in leaving him in the back seat.

She eyed Kiba's truck behind them, that was waiting for them to move so they could follow them, and she leaned her head on the seat, closing her eyes, finally allowing her body to relax.

"You know the answer" she turned to look straight into Sakura's eyes with a big reassuring grin, helping the pink haired girl relax a little bit.

"Let's go then!" she started the engine, and with one swift moved maneuvered the car on the road.

Forty- two minutes later, they finally reached their destination, the heavy rain had slowed down traffic, so it had took a little longer than usual, but that didn't ruin Naruko's everlasting good mood, and she rushed to open the door to let the others in, to avoid getting soaked by the rain.

With Kurama's cage safely anchored to her hip, she took her first steps into her new home with a satisfied smile.

She had spent a good part of her time painting the walls and moving furniture around to make it look better, and she was satisfied of the results.

Haku had given her the keys almost directly, giving her the freedom of doing what she wanted with the place, and so she had done.

The small living room, looked brighter with the small coffee table in the middle of the room, the orange angular couch that she had bargained at the local flea market, some colorful and horrendous puctures, that gave some light, and the blue and orange curtains draped over the window, of dubious taste.

The house had transformed into a sad enoty hole into this vivacious explosion of colors that resembled the new tenant's bright personality.

"Kurama, welcome to our new house!" she set the cage down opening the grill, the cat slipping out immediately, and after giving the place a good long stare, jumped on the couch dozing off against the armrest. That was pretty much what was expected by a cat, but Naruko managed to feel a little insulted at his lack of interest.

"So, where should we leave the rest of your shit" Kiba walked in without much thought some boxes in hand, and shoes all wet.

"Idiot! You are dripping on the damn floor, take that soaked coat off!" Sakura punched the back of his head, luckily it she had gone light on him otherwise he would be rolling on the floor in pain, and maybe a concussion too. Salura's punches were something to be scared of, the girl had monstrous strength.

"Sorry sorry, geez you girls, always complaining about everything" he complained taking the raincoat off, shaking the remnants of water from his head, exactly like a dog would do.

"It's called having good manners!"

Naruko ignored their bickering, not really caring if the floor got wet, she wasn't as picky as her friend was.

"Drop them over there Kiba, thank you" she smiled pointing towards the small hallway. The brown haired boy that did just as he was told, before dropping on the floor with a tired puff, waking Kurama that meowed in annoyance.

"Here Dobe, I hope we're finished" Sasuke and Shikamaru followed the Inuzuka's example leaving everything there, and walking in the cramped living room, giving it a long pointed glance, he was the only one of the group that hadn't seen it finished. Naruko looked at him, lips in a grim line as she waited for him to express his judgement.

"It looks…terrible, but, it's renown you have a very bad taste in almost anything, but it's better than what I was expecting"

Everyone in the room turned to look at him as if he had discovered the Saint Graal,since he never said so many words in one take, and, but it was the most important part, he had complimented the Uzumaki, in his own way, but still, it was something to be proud of.

"Wow, I think I can rest in peace now" Shikamaru had already made himself comfortable on the sofa, next to Kiba.

"Really though, there's a hell lot of orange around here" the brown haired teen commented with a grin, not that anyone was surprised, everyone knew she had an obsession with the color and anytime she found something in that tone, she had to buy it.

"Hey, orange is great!"

"Well, I think we should grab a bite to eat, and then get going, you have to get to work soon anyway" Sakura said peering at Naruko that was going through a box to find something she could change into.

"I still have two hours" she waved her off, she was hungry, and neither one of them had had any lunch that day.

"Actually dobe, it's five o' clock " the black haired Uchiha checked his phone that displayed the exact time, and it was the only clock he trusted.

"What! You mean I only have one hour to take a shower, find something to wear and to eat?" the blonde panicked, squeezing her hands on her cheeks roaming around the house like a crazed person.

"Don't worry, fretting about things won't help" Shikamaru sounded like the wisest of them, as he yawned from his spot on the sofa.

"That's why you need a watch, dobe" Sasuke sighed, throwing a small package at her, it looked like a gift with the golden paper wrapped around it and the small orange bow that made her smile. Whatever it was she was lucky she caught it immediately, without dropping it.

"How is this supposed to help me?" she asked raising both brows at the Uchiha shaking the package close to her ear.

"You have to open it, Naru" Sakura explained, aware that Sasuke would lose his patience if she asked another stupid question.

"oh…all right" she sat down between Shikamaru and Kiba staring at the thing curiously.

"Come on Uzumaki, it won't bite you" the Inuzuka grinned, looking at her with impatience.

The girl then proceeded to unwrap it slowly and gasped when she revealed what that small box contained.

"A phone? For me?" she looked at the small group with an incredulous expression, and then back at the box, it looked a lot lke the one Sasuke had, and she knew it was expensice becasue she had gone with him to get his.

No one had ever given her something so worthy, actually no one had ever thought about giving her gifts.

"Of course it's for you. You don't have one, and you didn't receive anything for graduation, so, we got one for you, it's already set up, we have registered our numbers in it already, the only thing you need to do, is turn it on" Sakura explained with a bright smile.

"Button on the left side, in case you're wondering" Shikamaru explained, taking it out of the box for her, showing her the right button.

"You guys…I can't accept this" she smiled softly at them, but she felt bad, almost like she was taking advantage of their kindness, her blue eyes shiny with unshed tears. She wouldn't cry, although it moved her to see how much they cared for her. It made her feel warm and happy.

"Of course you can, don't be such a stubborn ass" Kiba punched her lightly on the arm with a smile, and she nodded, hugging her cocky friend, patting him lightly on the back.

"Thank you you guys, I don't know what to say"

"Don't say anything, there's no need" Shikamaru got up from the couch, and stood in front of her ruffling her hair with affection, before dragging Kiba up with him.

"We should leave, you have to get ready now, and we are delaying you"

"Yeah, he's right" the two boys waved at Naruko, with the promise of calling her the next day, the y left, leaving only Sasuke and Sakura behind.

"Naruko, if you ever need anything or want to leave this place just give us a call all right?" the pink haired girl hugged her friend, smiling warmly at her.

"Of course, but I will be fine, don't worry"

Sakura nodded, and took the Uchiha's hand entwining their fingers together.

Sasuke hesitated a little bit, as he looked straight into her deep blue orbs, a sincerely concerned look in his eyes, that left her speechles, but something in the back of her mind suggested she knew the reason of that particular look, having nothing to do with her, but with the place she had chose to live in. He had never expressed his opinion about it, but it was obvious he had bern harboring such feelings for a long time, if the look on his face was something to go by.

"Dobe, just…just be careful. There are dangerous people in this place" an unspoken name made quietly it's way in the raven's mind, but he refused to speak it out loud, he hadn't uttered it in such a long time, he wouldn't do it now, it would sound like a bad omen.

"Don't worry Teme, I can take care of myself"

 **Author's note**

Hello everybody! I know I still have two other stories to finish, but this has been on my mind and on my computer for so long, and my muse came back with ideas flowing my mind for this I couldn't leave it unfinished.

For those who know me for "One of the boys" just know that this story will completely differ from that, not only because it will touch more darker and angsty themes, but because I plan on taking my time with this, updating less frequently, and only when completely satisfied of every chapter. One of the boys was like a little try out for me, I loved it just as much as this one, but I think it's obvious that I will put much more time and efforts into this one, since to me, it's a much more serious fiction in my point of view, and with a more complicated plot.

Thank you for your time, and I hope to read your opinions!

Till next time

Darkshadows92


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The loud music in the bar banged in his ears as he served another beer, not understanding a word of what the inebriated man was telling him, and he wasn't even half interested in listening as the man thought he was, somehow being a bartender gave people the idea that he was interested in what they had to say, and had time to waste in listening to their problems. He didn't really care, the man was too far gone to notice, and Haku felt a little pity for him, it was too early to be in that wasted state, but for that area it wasn't that uncommon. Most people there didn't have a job or families, they were considered outcasts that didn't fit in with society, and he had seen a lot of them, ruining their lives with alcohol or drug abuse, it had become almost normality in that little piece of hell. Institutions didn't care about them, even police forces seemed to have forgotten them seeing as criminals walked freely in the light of day, acting as if they owned the whole place.

A lot of times, he had considered closing everything and leave, but he didn't have much options, he was lucky enough with what he had, and he would never leave Zabuza's side. They had gone through a lot of shit together.

Zabuza had found him in the period of his criminal life, when he had been part of a gang, "The seven swordman of the mist" that's how they were called because of their ability in wielding their strange weapons, and their use of them in their crimes. Haku had been a young teenager with no family living as a street rat, when Zabuza had found him, taking him under his wing and giving him a roof over his head.

Together they had gathered enough money to leave Kiri and their criminal life, transferred in Konoha and set up their little activity together, although it was mostly Haku that took care of it, Zabuza was rarely seen behind the counter, and only served as an accountant, handling the economic side of their business. It had been hard at the beginning, especially because of the gangs that contended the territory, there was always the risk that one or the other might destroy the activities in retaliation, so Zabuza, knowing well how things were in criminal areas, had decided to go and talk to the leader of one of the gangs, the Akatsuki, and made a deal with them. They would offer them protection, and in exchange the members of the gang could have free drinks and roam around the bar, obviously without disturbing the paying customers, although everyone knew to stay away from them.

Haku had been skeptical about the deal, but it had worked so far, although with some disturbance, there was nothing he could really say against it apart from the fact that he didn't really care for high ranked criminals wandering freely around his property, acting as if they owned the place, at least some of them.

His brown eyes caught some movement behind the counter, and a small line of smoke trailing up slowly, along with a very recognizable smell, although very faint, Haku's fine nose caught it immediately.

"Are you slacking off again Suigetsu? I can see you, you know"9

The white haired man huffed at him from his little hiding place, a puff of smoke coming out of his mouth, as he put off the cigarette he had been enjoying up to that moment, stomping on it with his foot, and throwing it in the bin next to the small sink, aware Haku would make him pick it up with his teeth if he dared leave it on the floor. The clean freak.

"What do you want me to do? there's no one around" he retorted, face scrunched up in annoyance, as he leaned his elbows on the counter giving a look at the almost empty room with a bored expression.

"It's not a good reason to smoke weed in my bar" his voice had an underline of anger underneath the calm tone, that put the man in alarm, the feminine looking man had a calm and angelic appearance, but Suigetsu knew very well how that façade could change if someone dared to anger him, and since it was him most of the times that caused that change, knew very well that it was best to keep his mouth shut tightly, so he didn't even bother defending himself, knowing well it would be worthless and a big waste of his precious time.

Haku looked satisfied at the terrified expression on the younger man's face, and threw a cloth at him with a smirk of satisfaction, knowing the victory was in his own hands, and he had the right method to rub it in his pale face.

"Very well. Now go and wash the dishes as punishment, we are running out of glasses" he knew he hated that particular job, the man hated getting his hands wet, and tended to avoid water in general whenever he could get away with it. Haku was simply aa sadistic man, using his phobia against him.

The other grimaced, he hated being ordered around, especially by the brown haired man. Their constant bickering had drove even Zabuza nuts, it was one of the reasons he avoided spending too much time there with both of them. He was lucky Suigetsu had got his own place to live, or he might have thrown both of them out of the house.

"But, I washed them all this morning!" he protested, voice raising of a few octaves, much to the brown haired man amusement.

Haku battled his eyelashes, concentrated on his manicured nails, a small wicked smile on his lips that made the other lower his head resigned, he was certainly punishing him for something he had done in the past, no one could be so evil for no reason, well he had a reason, lots of them actually, but to the white haired man the punishment was far worse then his crime, at least this time.

"What can I say, they get dirty really fast, it's almost as if they weren't even used"

" _Damn bastard"_ the white haired man thought, sending Haku a nasty glare, the other didn't realize it though, he was used to his personality.

"I can hear you thinking, you know"

Unfortunately though, Suigetsu's cockiness couldn't be contained entirely, so he huffed, taking the piece of fabric in his hand, and aware of the danger, started to walk towards the back room.

"Fine evil godmother I will go and do my chores now"

He ran inside, before risking to be hit by a bottle opener directed at him, that banged on the door, probably leaving a dent in the wood, in the same exact position Suigetsu had been standing in a couple of seconds ago. Haku had an incredible aim after all, and could kill him with a toothpick if he so wished to, with his knowledge of the human body, it was best not to anger him further.

"Damn brat! You should be thankful I had a bit of respect for you brother or I would have already booted your ass out of this place"

"You keep promising that, but you never do it" the other yelled, from behind the closed door. The brown haired man felt the sudden urge to strangle him, and would have probably managed to accomplish it if a blonde blur didn't interrupt his evil plans, bursting through the door, slamming it almost against the opposite part of the wall, rushing through the few customers as if she was in a race, almost running them over with her impressive force, managing to curb a few centimeters from the brown haired man's feet, that was already bracing himself from the impact with his arms stretched in front of him and eyes closed, but maybe he should have just used his hands to cover his ears.

"I'm completely sorry for being late! I know it doesn't make a good impression! Especially on my first day… but I had to find my clothes through all the boxes, you know I just moved in today, and I just couldn't remember in which one I had put them, I forgot to mark them as I put the stuff in, but it's really the Teme's fault, he was in such a hurry! And when I found them I had to shower, and eat, and I couldn't leave Kurama without food, so I had to search the boxes for cat food an-"

"For fucks sake stop!" Haku opened one eye, meeting his new employee's blue curious eyes staring back at him, her blonde hair tied up in a high ponytail, dressed with an orange track suit jacket with a black shirt underneath, it was short, right above the belly button, revealing a good portion of bronzed skin and her flat abdomen where a tattoo that represented a sun like design was located, right in the center where her navel was and a pair of dark tight low waist jeans

He was glad he wouldn't have to make her change, she had remembered his instructions.

He sighed as she quieted down, she was still bouncing on her feet, but at least she had stopped talking. He lowered his hands, and finally spoke, after clearing his throat.

"You aren't late, you are perfectly on time, now, take off that jacket, and put this on" he handed her a small black apron that would serve as uniform, and she started to tie it around her waist, before Haku stopped her.

"Tie it on around your hips, our customers like seeing a bit of skin" his lips hinted a small smirk and she raised a brow at that, the thing was short, it would barely cover her upper thighs, and left her stomach completely exposed, now she understood why Haku wanted her to wear a short shirt. Were the customers of that place perverts? She wasn't sure, but she was starting to regret a little bit not listening to Sakura, she could picture her saying ' _told you so'_ in that irritating tone she would use when she was proven right on something, and being the competitive person she was, she heard that quite often.

"I know it might be uncomfortable, but it will get you higher tips. In case you're wondering, I will make sure they don't touch you, now follow me, I will explain you how things work around here"

Naruko did as she was told, and tied the apron on, taking her jacket off, she fought off the uneasy feeling of being so exposed. She had never walked around like that, no one had ever seen her with such a skimpy shirt on, she usually covered herself from head to toe, exactly like Hinata, the shy girl she used to go to school with, she wasn't the shy type like her, but she did prefer baggier and more masculine clothes.

Haku looked satisfied though, and if she wanted to keep her job she would have to get used to it. The man was now behind the counter, and called her with a quick movement of his hand, his eyes staring at her body in a pensive way, and she wondered what the hell was going through his mjnd.

"Hmm, I thought your chest was bigger, guess we'll make do with what you have"

Haku concluded with a hand on his chin, looking as if he was deep in thought, and the blonde's eyebrows shot up in surprise, and she uttered a strangled yelp of surprise as she stepped closer to

It was true, she didn't have a generous bust but she wasn't as flat as Sakura either, and that was saying something!

She was average and that had never been a problem for her but now, she almost felt like a cow at an auction, and that uneasy feeling washed over her again, her whole face as well as the tips of her ears felt red and hot and she covered her chest with her arms in an embarrassed stance.

She was glad Haku had declared himself as gay, or she would think he was hitting on her or something, sure, it would be a weird approach, but she wasn't an expert on the matter, it's not like she had an interesting love life, it was rare she found someone that looked past the scars on her face, they seemed to scare guys away, and Sakura had once wondered if that was the reason why the bastard had marked her in such a way.

"What does that have to do with my job?" Maybe that was a stupid question, just looking at how he was dressed made it obvious they weren't in the classy Konoha area, where more respectable people resided, not that he wasn't a respectable person, but no one would dare being seen in such an eccentric attire, and no one could pull it off as graciously as Haku did, she had to admit, he was a pretty handsome man, despite his feminine features.

His black sheer tank top, showed his nipples and the lines of his muscles perfectly, and his black leather pants were so tight, that should be declared illegal.

He noticed she was staring at him, and his expression changed from thoughtful, to playful, with a small smirk gracing his full lips, and his brown eyes narrowed, as he studied her figure

"Nothing. I'm just saying, more cleavage, more business, it's the way it works around here, but don't worry, you will be fine"

Naruko wasn't really sure if she should feel offended or not, but scurried up after the man behind the counter that was waiting for her with his elbows leaning on the counter as he leaned his back on the surface, in a resting pose.

"The job isn't difficult per se, but it can be a handful….we have some very peculiar customers" he started to explain when she reached him, and she wondered what he meant with peculiar

"For this area, we could be doing much worse, we have the occasional drunks, they usually come after dinner and stay here, till midnight, you shouldn't worry about them though, they are usually troubled people that just want to forget their problems for a night. Then, we have the regular drunks, those can give you a little trouble, they don't usually have an established time, they show up whenever they feel need to attach themselves to the bottle, give them a bottle of sake and they shouldn't bother you for an hour or so, they can become violent, so, in that case let me handle them." He stopped to look at her, to check she was all right.

"And then…we have the lowlives, criminals and prostitutes, the latter you won't see much, they are usually at work at these hours, if you know what I mean."

Naruko nodded, she wasn't surprised she knew where she had moved to, she didn't have prejudices about them. She figured they had to make a living somehow, she couldn't be the one to judge them, but she thanked the lord she had been luckier than those girls, and didn't have to lead such a life. She could have easily ended up that way with the life she had had after all.

" Last, and these are the ones you truly have to watch out for, are the guys from Akatsuki, a gang of high ranked criminals, you should recognize them by the black leather jackets with red clouds. Whatever they ask for, just give it to them, they're dangerous, and only bring bad news, listen to me, stay away from them"

Akatsuki, she wasn't sure why the name was familiar, she might have heard it from Sasuke or his parents, his father was the chief of Konoha's police department, and Sasuke himself wanted to enroll at the academy.

Haku sighed, as he pushed himself up and motioned for her to follow him again, this time to the little back room door she had noticed the other time.

"Come, I will show you around"

The blonde hurried behind him with a bright smile, and Haku couldn't avoid to answer her with one of his own. He had a good feeling about her, he was sure she was exactly the type of person they needed.

"You can leave your jacket in the back" he showed her a black small closet, it looked warned out, and she clutched her jacket, it was her favorite piece of clothing, and she didn't really feel like leaving it in that not very hygienic place, but she didn't have other choices, so she reluctantly opened the door hanging it on a hanger, feeling a little better since inside was an acceptable level of cleanliness, at least for Naruko, someone like Sasuke would never even walk in a place like that.

The back room was a little kitchen area, and she was surprised about it. She didn't know they also served food in there, she thought it was just a place to have a few drinks, t least, it had been her first impression.

"In case you're wondering yes, we make food here, nothing fancy, just simple stuff, a lot of people around here don't have families to go home too, so they come here to have some company, despite it's appearance, Kubikiriocho, has become a little center for them" his voice came from behind her, making her jump slightly in surprise, she hadn't noticed him move from his spot near the door.

"Kubikiriocho?" she asked with a frown, was that supposed to be the name of the place? It sounded a little creepy, but despite it's name, she had to admit, the reason behind the decision of preparing warm meals for lonely people was noble.

"I can understand, it is awful to be alone, if they can find some comfort coming here, then it's a good thing" she could understand that well, she had spent years, eating leftovers alone in the kitchen, without the warmth of a family, and anytime she could sneak out to go and eat warm ramen at old man Ichiraku's with Iruka sensei, it gave her a sense of happiness, and it made her understand what it felt like to have a family, and for those precious moments, she felt

Haku nodded, he too had suffered from loneliness, it was the main reason he had opened the small activity, and why he insisted with Zabuza for the restaurant, the older man had been against it, but Haku had won, and the results made him proud, when around seven o clock, the small dining area filled with customers.

"Juugo our cook should be coming in soon, and that's Suigetsu, if you ever need to know where something is and I'm not here, ask him, he's a pain in the ass, but can be useful sometimes, he mostly stays behind here to help Juugo."

Suigetsu groaned, and turned off the water, his expression wasn't that amicable, but the pink gloves and frilly purple apron he was wearing didn't let Naruko concentrate on his face. She was trying hard not to laugh, although there was really nothing wrong with a man wearing girly colors, looked his expression made him look like a stressed out house wife.

Obviously the white haired man noticed her trying to hold in her laughter, and although he appreciated her attempt, he growled in annoyance at Haku, he was the one that forced him to wear those silly garments, he was sure the man had a special place reserved in hell just for him.

"Hey, Haku bought them to mock me! You will learn with time what a sadistic bastard he really is! nice to meet you, by the way…ehm..this is embarrassing but, who exactly are you?

"I'm Naruko!" she said as if that explained everything, and he shrugged it off, Haku might have hinted he had hired some chick to help him out.

She smiled enthusiastically bouncing on her feet, she looked like a child on a sugar high, just looking at her made him feel tired. Haku behind her smirked, he was truly enjoying Suigetsu's distress, maybe a little more than he should.

"Nice to meet you too, and, don't worry, I think they suit you" she wasn't one to be intimidated, she was already starting to like that place and it's weird inhabitants. They made her feel at home despite having just met them, and if you looked passed it's shady appearance and it's name, Kubikiriocho wasn't that bad. It made her feel welcomed for the first time in her life.

"I think we'll get along very well" the brown haired man, patted her on the back, drawing a smile from the girl, and a big sigh from Suigetsu, that pointed a wet wooden spoon in their direction with an annoyed expression.

"Great, you two are going to team up against me now, who knows what other ridiculous stuff you're going to force me to wear" he rolled his eyes at the unfazed look on Haku's face. He couldn't be too surprised, the man was difficult to impress.

"They were the only color available, now stop moping, I need those dishes washed"

Suigetsu cursed under his breath, fishing for the gloves, and putting them on again, despite them being pink, there was no way in hell he was getting his hands wet.

"Only color available my ass"

Haku and Naruko left the room in a bout of giggles, and he ignored them, before the idea of retrieving Zabuza's old sword and committing a murder became reality, it's not like that thing could be easily snatched from wherever the man had wisely hid it, and he didn't really feel like going to prison over this, and he hated those Akatsuki guys too much to even think of joining them to save his ass. He would have to live with those two and their crazy ideas, because he was sure, Haku had just found a perfect partner in crime, and the feminine man was just as aware as he was of the fact, and would surely use it at his advantage.

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The sun was setting, and he was starting to feel to first bouts of hunger set in his stomach, as dinner time drew closer, but he ignored them, rubbing his sore eyes as he went through old documents and evidence of an unsolved crime he was investigating on, hoping to find something new, something he might have missed, despite almost knowing every little detail by heart, since he went through them almost every night, as an unhealthy obsessive routine.

He had started after the last unfortunate event that had occurred a couple of years ago, marking another heavy loss for the Police forces, disturbing Konoha's peaceful life once again, after the murder of their loved Mayor, Minato Namikaze and his wife Kushina a few years before.

His colleagues, along with the police's chief knew of it, and they had all given up trying to get him home at a decent hour, a long time ago. His friends and his partner had given up as well and they didn't even bother calling him anymore, knowing already he wouldn't pick up the phone.

His guilt ridden behavior, had took a toll on him, and on his relationship with Yamato, that he affectionately called Tenzo, was hanging by a thin thread, and he couldn't get himself to make an effort and pick up the pieces. He loved Tenzo, and loved what they had built together through the years. He had to thank Tenzo for helping him get back on the right track, after a life heavily marked by tragedies, he had been the one that had stood close to him, his will never faltering, always with his gentle smile even when he had tried to send him away, he didn't give up on him, but he was giving up on them. In his pained twisted world, he had convinced himself he didn't deserve to be happy, he blamed himself for the deaths of his friends and team mates, and that had caused

His guilt ridden behavior was something that no one could fight against, Yamato had tried and succeeded for a while, but his demons would not give him rest, and thoughts and memories ofhis team mate's deaths still haunted him.

"Still working hn?" a voice shook him out of his daze, and he battled his eyelashes as he teared his gaze away from the documents on his desk, to look at the tall man that had just walked through the door.

"Chief Uchiha, I was just going through some old files" he explained, trying to ignore the man's disapproving glare. If there was one thing that Fugaku Uchiha was known for, it was for his terrifying glare, although it didn't have any effect on him, he had been working with the man for years he had grown used to it.

"Old files? Would you mind if I look?" the man asked with a serious look, undoing his tie as he grabbed a chair from the nearest desk.

Kakashi nodded, knowing well that his boss was trying to delay going home exactly like he was doing, it would have been nice to have some company, but he couldn't help but feel guilty, once more knowing the reason why Fugakuwas trying to buy some time before going home was explained in the folder he was holding. He knew the last thing his boss needed was the relive those terrible moments he and his family had to go through three years ago.

"Case number 21875, hn, I don't think I ever read the details of this case" he seemed surprised, he was the chief, so every thing regarding a case was always brought to his attention, and he always wanted to be informed on every case they got, from a simple claim of aggression, to murder.

The only times he would be kept out of it was when a family member was involved, and so, to avoid conflict of interest someone else would follow the case until it was closed and could be taken to the archives.

Fugaku though was a smart man, and there had only been one case he had to be kept out from.

His expression darkened, and he didn't open the folder, putting it back on the desk as if it was poisonous.

"Shisui's case I imagine" he stated dryly, and the grey haired man sighed, but wasn't intimidated by the now serious look on the dark haired man's face, taking the folder in his hands, shuffling it nervously.

"Yes sir, I am the one in charge of the investigations" Kakashi explained, he was ashamed to admit though

He knew it was still difficult for his boss to talk about it, although it had been three years since that fateful night, no one had truly forgot it, it was marked in everyone's memories, as they had lost not only a great agent as Shisui, that although was still alive, laid in a hospital bed in a comatose state because of his wounds. One of the bullets that had hit him, had reached the brain, and although the doctors had managed to remove it, it had damaged the tissues permanently, and no one knew if he was ever going to wake up.

"Hn. So you are the one that interrogated the suspect and concluded he wasn't involved in the shooting"

Kakashi rested his left elbow on one of his legs, prodding his head on his hand, his eyes inspecting his boss's face. He knew the man was obviously suffering, and although tried to hide it, he could see right through him. Still, he was a little shocked at the cold tone he used to ask about his own son, although he understood, especially after Itachi had left his family and his job as a police agent and gone rogue, leaving nothing but shock and confusion in everyone that knew him.

" With all due respect sir, I verified all the evidence we collected personally, and interrogated Itachi myself. I don't think he was the one to pull the trigger." He admitted, he was aware this wasn't news to the other man, the facts had happened three years ago, and Itachi had left the district since, but still, Fugaku had flinched when he had mentioned his son's name, it had been almost imperceptible, a very fast movement that he wouldn't have caught if he hadn't been studying the man's face. He was a very observant man after all, it came with being one of the best detectives in the district.

"I believe you are in good faith Kakashi, but don't mention that name in my presence ever again" The Uchiha stood, his mood had suddenly changed, and his tone wasn't as pleasant as it had been at the beginning.

"Sir, he might have made mistakes, but he is still your son" The Hatake stood up, his hands in his pockets as his eyes studied the man's body language, his fists tightened and body stiff as he listened. He was fuming, but it was notjing new to him, they had been working together for years, and Kakashi felt like he had the right to say what passed through his mind, aware his boss wouldn't punish him for it. It had been the Uchiha, to encourage him to always speak his mind.

Fugaku scoffed, as he reached for the door, turning his shoulders to the grey haired man. He was getting a head ache, and it was time for him to go home to a worried and fragile Mikoto and to his son, Sasuke.

"Mikoto still hopes he will come home one day." He paused, as he allowed a small smile to appear on his lips as he thought about his wife. She had been the one that had been more hurt about Itachi's sudden disappearance, only after a few months, news about him joining a criminal organization had leaked, making the situation worse. While she prayed for his safety, and for him to come back home, he wallowed in his rage and guilt for not understanding his son. He thought he knew everything about both his children, but he was proved wrong, and his pride couldn't take it.

"For me on the other side…" he paused for a second, his shoulders falling a little as if they were supporting a big weight.

"Itachi is dead to me. I lost him three years ago, and I will never forgive him for betraying everything we believed in"

He closed the door behind him, leaving Kakashi alone with his thoughts.

The man, sighed, opening the folder that had been forgotten on the desk, and he smiled sadly at a picture that he had slipped in there, although it didn't belong, and it represent himself, with Shisui and Itachi, on the latter's first day on the field. He studied the young face, and then he slipped the photo in his pocket, a wave of nostalgia washing over him.

" _Maybe he is right, it goes to prove that I really didn't know anything about him"_

 **Author's note!**

 **First of all, thank you for the reviews and for adding the story to your alert list, I truly appreciate it!**

 **So, let me know what you think of the new chapter, any type of constructive criticism are always well accepted as well as your thoughts and opinions on the story! Just no flames, I don't find them useful, and I always think there are nicer ways to share an opinion, so, guys see you mext chapter!**

 **Darkshadows92**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything remotely related to him! I wish I did, but I don't.**

 **Chapter** **3**

The alarm clock rang waking her up from her well deserved rest, and she immediately jolted upwards in a sitting position, cursing at the damn noisy thing, covering her face with one arm, and reaching for the annoying thing with the other, she moved her tired limb, barely enough to free one blue, tired eye to check the time gasping, as she realized how late she was. She must have fixed the damn thing wrong, because it was far later from the time she had planned on getting up, and she immediately got up, knocking a dozing Kurama from his sleeping spot on her stomach, and he rolled down, quite ungraciously for a cat.

He sat on the covered floor licking one of his paws as if nothing had happened, ignoring his owner, that started running around throwing things around from her closet as she looked for some decent clothes, and when she couldn't find them moved to some boxes that were still hanging around waiting for her to empty them. It had been a week since she had moved, she should have them already out of the way, but it had been a little hard to adjust, with her new job and it's crazy work hours, the remaining free time she had, had been mostly spent sleeping, or fixing little things here and there around the house.

"I am going to be so late! Sakura will kill me, and I still have to check the bus hours! Why didn't I give a look at them yesterday evening dammit" she almost tripped on her own legs as she struggled to put on her black pants with one hand as she tried to take a bite of some left over rice she had brought home from work, Haku had forced her to take some, since he hated to waste food from the restaurant, and, in a way to dote a bit on her, she had been there for only a week, but the man treated her like family, and was showing the early signs of a mother hen. Maybe he missed having children or something at least, that's how she explained his actions, but she not even closely could imagine that it had been her, with her warm behavior and her bright personality that had made the man that way towards her, as well as Juugo, the cook, a calm and nice man, that she easily befriended, despite of his bipolar disorders, he was nice, and she already considered him a friend. Suigetsu, reminded her a bit of Sasuke, with his standoffish behavior and sarcastic remarks, but he was slowly warming up to her as well.

She finally put her orange t-shirt on, her favorite one, and she grabbed her backpack, put her shoes on barely tying the strings, for she was in a rush, and as she was getting ready to leave, she finally remembered she had a cat to feed, and with a grunt of annoyance walked back, meeting Kurama's unimpressed gaze, he must have followed her from the bedroom.

"I didn't forget you Kurama, here's your food!" she grabbed a can of cat food from the pantry and he looked at her, in a way that almost feigned indifference.

"You're welcome you ungrateful ball of fur, you're so fat you're going to start rolling all over the place" she muttered. She knew he was just a cat, but sometimes she expected Kurama to show her some affection, but maybe she was just lacking some human affection.

She left the used can on the still set table, and she promised to herself that she would take care of the mess on the table once she got home, and sped to the door, opening with force, almost backing away with a scared gasp, as she noticed someone was standing in front of her. She calmed down only when she met Haku's curious glare.

"What the- you scared me to death!"

The man gave an amused huff, and handed her a thermal polystyrene cup, and she frowned at it before accepting it, and taking it into her own hands.

"What is it?" she asked, only then taking in his appearance. If she didn't know better, she would have seriously mistake him for a woman. His long brown hair were down, and he was wearing a pinkish sleeveless kimono that went down to his knees. She almost felt envious of his natural good look.

"Tea. It's fresh, I figured you were going to be late for your new job this morning, so I figured I would just bring you some. I feel a little guilty, I had you stay over to clean up till three am."

He explained with a kind smile marring his lips, and she waved him off, answering with one of her own, as she shyly rubbed the back of her head with a hand, covering half of her face with her elbow. It always made her feel giddy when someone showed her some kindness, and she was bound to say or do something stupid, because she didn't know how to reciprocate the action, and was afraid she would end up saying something out of place.

"It's part of the job, you do pay me for that" she immediately regretted saying that, it was obvious he wasn't doing that because he felt he owed her, but more because he was concerned for her well being. She felt mortified, she didn't want to sound ungrateful, or make him think she was bothered by his action.

Haku hummed in agreement, not bothered by her comment. He had figured out on his own, that she must have had a rough upbringing, although her lips were pursed on that topic, he just knew. And he had felt on his own skin, what it meant to be alone, and how long a healing process could take.

"That I do"

He rubbed his chin with two fingers, his eyes staring at the ceiling, his other arm crossed against his other as if he was thinking hardly about something.

"Then consider this an act of kindness, and as good luck for your first day of " he smiled kindly, and she couldn't avoid a small smile of her own to form on her lips, before remembering that she had somewhere to go to, and she was already running late and a loud gasp came out from her mouth, and she gripped the cup with her right hand, as she slapped her forehead with the other, she was almost forgetting about her appointment with her temperamental and very punctual friend, if she lost the bus, she would have to wait for the next one, and she would inevitably be late for her meeting, and that would mean she would get a earfull from the Haruno.

"Damn it! Sakura! The bus! I gotta go, Thanks Haku! See ya later!" she rushed out the door, closing it behind her with a loud bang, that made Haku wince, and Zabuza pull his head out their apartment door to check what all the hassle was. The brown haired man sighed, and he turned meeting Zabuza's confused and sleepy eyes.

"What was that all about?" he asked, his voice still knocked out from sleep.

"She was late, I hope she doesn't lose her bus, it should be there any minute now" he frowned checking at his watch. The bus stop was in front of Kubikiri ocho, so she had to run if she wanted to catch it.

"What are you doing down here so bloody early anyway?" Zabuza asked gruffly, leaning on the wooden railing with his back, Haku could tell he had just got up from bed, he was still shirtless, and his face was uncovered, which was unusual, since he had the habit to cover it up with bandages, a habit he had picked up in his criminal period, it was very rare for the Momochi to show his face, and the only one who knew every line of his face was the graceful man in the kimono.

"I brought Naruko some tea, in case she didn't have time to make some on her own"

He paused for a second, with a sigh, threading his fingers through his long dark locks, turning to face Zabuza, meeting his eyes, still clouded from sleep, and shaded with lust for his younger partner, but Haku decided to ignore that, for the moment.

"You know, she's alone and I had already made some for myself so…and she's awfully thin, I think she doesn't eat enough"

Zabuza wasn't surprised, Haku's kindness was one of his best traits, and he was pretty accustomed to him being that way. He had been the same way with Suigetsu, before he became such a brat and still was with Juugo, who could only benefit from it, and now the little blonde girl.

"You know, you should stop treating our employees as if they were our children" he huffed, his arms crossed on his wide chest, a smirk gracing his lips, as he studied his smaller bboyfriend, that was now walking towards him, meeting him on the steps. Zabuza didn't move, his heated gaze was on the other's barely covered chest, the kimono didn't do much to hide it, and the older man could only feel his arousal grow.

"I don't treat them like children!" He replied with the smallest hint of a pout on his lips, but enough to make the older man sneer in amusement.

"You don't even realize it, do you?" Zabuza tilted his head to the side, eyeing his little hot boyfriend's puzzled face.

"I do?" the brown haired man wondered, his brow slightly raising at his question, Zabuza mimicking his action as he too waited for Haku's conclusions.

The skinny man snickered, covering his mouth with his hand, waving his thoughts away. He knew Zabuza was right, he did treat them as children, and he liked it. It was in his nature, and he was very aware that his partner wasn't bothered by his actions.

"Ah, maybe I do. I should definitely correct that and give all my attentions to you, what do you think?" he smirked deviously, his thin fingers caressing Zabuza's swollen biceps, drawing a low groan from the man's throat, that was answered by a similar, but higher sound from the younger man, whose lips were now ghosting on the firm neck, he let out a low breathy moan as Zabuza's strong hands landed on his backside, grabbing a the soft fabric, pulling him towards his body, his groin brushing against Haku's, to make him feel his raging hard on, causing another moan to slip from both their mouths.

"I think I would like that very much" his husky voice, sounded closer, as he bit at the tip of the feminine man's ear, as he dragged him inside their apartment, kissing his lover's lips hungrily, as they disappeared behind the closed door.

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Sakura was waiting impatiently in front of the bus stop, that was close to Konoha's hospital, her leg shaking nervously, as she tapped her foot furiously on the ground.

Naruko was supposed to meet her there ten minutes ago, and she was still nowhere to be seen, the bus hadn't arrived, and she couldn't reach her on her cell phone, and she was starting to get nervous and worried for her friend.

Of course, she was used to the Uzumaki's habit of never being punctual to anything, but this time it was different, because she knew from which part of town she was coming from, and she hoped, nothing bad had happened to her friend on her way there.

" _Stupid stubborn girl! I knew it, I should have gone and pick her up_ " She thought, as she tried to ring her phone again, angrily thinking about the Uzumaki who had insisted on catching the bus, refusing Sakura's offer to give her a ride with her car despite her trying to convince her it wouldn't be a problem, Naruko couldn't get the idea out of her head that she might be a burden, and always refused help, it didn't matter in which direction it was coming from.

She had a tough skin, and was convinced she could do everything on her own, which sometimes, like in this case, caused more problems than avoid them.

"Sakura chan! sorry I'm late! I barely missed the bus, and apparently I got off at the wrong stop and I had to walk ten minutes to get here and-" Naruko stopped to catch her breath, and Sakura blinked at the girl, phone still in hand, and face dangerously contorted by anger, that made the blonde haired Uzumaki stop on her tracks, deciding in approaching the girl more cautiously, instead than her usual cheery way.

It was typical. Sakura waiting for her, Naruko showing up late with an excuse, Sakura getting mad at her, that usually ended up with Naruko massaging her arm, since the Haruno had a little anger management problem, at least according to her friends. The only one immune to such treatment, was Sasuke, the lucky bastard, was the only one who could mellow her down, and the only one that could get away with almost anything, for Sakura would always forgive him, and take out her frustration on someone else, usually the Uzumaki, that was well used to her madness.

"You had me worried you damn square head! You didn't answer that damn phone of yours and the bus didn't show up-" she stopped, she had to if she wanted to preserve what little was left of her sanity, because right in that moment, the big vehicle Naruko had took to get there, stopped in front of both girls, at the stop Naruko should have come off to, the driver sending the blonde a puzzled look, at least, she thought he did, and Sakura wanted to slap her hand on her face.

"Well, I guess next time I will know to stop here"

The blonde grinned, letting out a little nervous chuckle, and Sakura sighed, it was fundamental she kept her calm, she already felt drained, and it was only eight in the morning, and she had a rough morning ahead of her, so, she slumped down her shoulders, and grabbed the still grinning blonde's arm and lead her towards the building, without uttering another word, that immediately set the blonde in alarm.

"Sakura chan?" The Uzumaki called, a little apprehensive, from the sudden change of behavior, and because she wasn't really sure where they were directed. She hated to admit to her friend that she hadn't been listening properly when Sakura had talked to her about a volunteer job, that from what she had understood, would help them collect some credits for their college grades, but that was it. She honestly didn't want to unleash the beast, but, well, she was curious as to where she had agreed to spend four hours of her day, everyday, for three moths.

"Shut it, we're late!"

"Uhmm exactly, where are we going?" she tightly shut her eyes, convinced that she was safer if she didn't directly stare at Sakura's wide eyes, as if she was some sort of mythological creature she had to brace herself from.

Sakura growled lowly, her hands freeing Naruko's arm to finally slap on her forehead, in a gesture she had been waiting to do since the blonde had arrived. Naruko always managed to make the stupidest questions, and look totally oblivious about it.

"I have told you through the phone three times! And I even sent you a message to give you all the information you needed. You obviously didn't read that, didn't you?"

Her voice was slightly rising, her hands waving in front of her in agitation, and Naruko opened one eye, her own hands splayed up in front of her, tried to defend herself from the Haruno's wrath.

"Well…you know…I am not very good at using that damn thing you guys got me" she tried to defend herself, although it was a poor excuse, even her damn cat could have seen that, actually, but the Uzumaki hoped she could get away with it, her optimism was all she was left with.

"I...you don't really think I will believe that?" it was more likely, that she had read it, forgetting what was written in it after a few seconds.

"Uhm…a little bit?" she tentatively asked, mimicking her words with her hands, hoping to have some mercy.

"Ugh! Come with me, I will show it to you, we're here now anyway!"

Naruko nodded happily, and Sakura rolled her eyes at her friend, walking behind her pushing her through the glass sliding doors of Konoha's central hospital. Naruko taking in the sterile environment and typical hospital smell, that made her pucker her nose in disgust.

She hated it, despite her dream of becoming an obstetrician, it brought back bad memories. It reminded her of the time she had to be rushed in the E.R.

Luckily she didn't remember all the details of that night, except for the person that had saved her, and even his face was blurry, but she remembered the young police officer with the kind eyes, and soothing voice, that had accompanied her to the hospital, hopping on the ambulance with her, since she wouldn't let go of his hand, and he had tried to keep her awake, asking any type of question that came to his mind, not minding his blood soaked shirt, he had waited in the waiting room, alongside Iruka sensei who had been called by a neighbor that knew the man had a particular affection for the girl, and only when he had been sure she would recover, had left. She never got to know who he was, he seemed to have disappeared after that night, and even Iruka sensei couldn't give her any information about him. She would have liked to know his name at least, to thank him. No one had ever held her so kindly, and a little girl crush was formed that night, despite her not remembering much of his face.

But that night, she had also met the doctor that had saved her, and that had been the inspiration for her own ambitions and dreams. She had never thought she could change the route her life was taking before meeting the blonde kind woman. Meeting her had sparked something in the young girl, making her realize that she could turn her life around be the person she wanted to be, not letting her background or how she had grown up define who she was going to be. Tsunade Senju, had took an immediate liking to the girl, and made her understand that she could take her life in her hands and do something for herself, so, she had started to pay more attention in school, to study and do her homework regularly and, despite all the bad predictions she had received from some of her teachers and the family she lived with, she had managed to graduate, and had been admitted to Konoha's med school with a good score. She still wasn't the best model student around, but she was getting there, and she had done it all on her own, with the occasional help from her friends, whom she was greatly thankful to.

"When did we get here?" She asked looking baffled, stealing a quick glance around the place, where a few doctors, with white overalls where scurrying around.

She turned her head towards a large reception desk in front of them, where two nurses were busy, one, on the phone, and the other looking through some papers. On her left there was a little waiting room, where a heavily pregnant woman was sitting down, reading a magazine.

"Naruko You should really learn to be more careful of your surroundings"

Sakura sweat dropped at her oblivious blonde friend, she kept her calm, just because they were in a hospital, that was supposed to be a calm environment, but damn, her fingers were itching to strangle the grinning Uzumaki, but decided against it, and instead she used them to torment the hem of her greenish shirt, in a sort of controlled rage, to dull her nerves a little bit.

Sensing danger, Naruko stepped away from the pink haired girl, she did have some preservation instincts after all, and they were screaming at her to get the fuck away from the pinkette, she was a ticking bomb waiting to explode, unfortunately, she wasn't always the best at catching hints, even the ones her own brain sent her.

"Really…I hadn't noticed that we were that close" she rubbed her head with a hand, elbow in the air, her other hand on her waist, in her typical pose.

"Why am I not surprised?" the Haruno let out a small sigh, and her shoulders started to shake, as a bout of laughter took over her, her hands shooting in front of her face, to cover her mouth, as she couldn't stop the fit of giggles, as she looked over an equally amused Naruko, the two girls, didn't really know why they were laughing, not even realizing the uncanny looks they were receiving from the few people that for one reason or another, was there with them.

Sakura wiped a few stray tears that slipped from her emerald eyes, as she calmed the sudden hilarity that had ensued, calming herself with a little round of giggles.

and a heart warming smile, appeared on her lips as she studied the still laughing Uzumaki, that despite her attempts to stop, couldn't seem to stay serious.

Naruko would never change. She would always remain the same happy go lucky girl, and Sakura, really hoped she would never lose that innocence that made her the genuine person she was. She was precious to her, her true best friend, the one that had shared with her the terrible period of Sasuke's dark period, after the disappearance of his brother, he ha withdrawn himself from his friends and family, and only the Uzumaki's insistence and perseverance had brought him out if his depression, and Sakura couldn't be more grateful for what she had done, because it had been thanks to that stubborness, and to her own forgiveness, that the Uchiha had started to heal. It was a long process, and she knew it wasn't over yet, at least, not until Itachi was still around, and not rotting in jail, where his place was.

Both of them, didn't notice the quiet woman, silently approaching them, with a smile on her face

"Good morning, how can I help you?" a soft voice caught their attention and Naruko turned around searching for the source, and a smile spread wide on her face when she met the woman's dark but friendly gaze. Sakura turned around too, and immediately bowed at the elder woman, frowning at Naruko for her lack of manners.

"Oh, we are here for the volunteer program, I believe I spoke to Shizune on the phone and-" she started to explain, before being interrupted by the woman who looked as if she was recalling something.

"You're Haruno Sakura, and Uzumaki Naruko?" she asked pointing towards them, and Sakura nodded.

"Perfect! I was waiting for you two. I'm Shizune by the way, follow me! I will explain everything you need to know about the job! I am sure you will love working here!" she motioned for them to follow her, and walked towards the nurse's lounge, where she showed them their locker, and gave them a pair of uniforms.

"Look at us Sakura chan! we're working in a real hospital!" the Uzumaki grinned, bouncing excitedly in her new blue attire, it brought out her eyes, and it was a fresh change from the usual orange she liked to wear.

Sakura rolled her eyes at her friend, only Naruko could have all that energy first thing in the morning and be so excited at the same time, though she found her enthusiasm contagious and found herself smiling fondly at her friend.

"I hope you will still have that enthusiasm once our shift is over, Naru chan!"

"I will! Believe it dattebayo!"

 _A few hours later…_

"I'm exhausted! They had me stack an infinity of shelves, and prepare all the cribs, it was exhausting!"

Naruko yawned as she slumped down on a stool at Ichiraku's ramen, leaning her head on the counter, as she let out another ling yawn. She didn't remember ever feeling so worn out, not even in her job at Kubikiri ocho. Those nurses were slave drivers, they had them doing all the most annoying and tiring jobs, and they weren't even paid for it! The injustice of that, the fact she was supposedly helping the community didn't make her feel any greater. She was tired, and the thought she had to catch another stinky bus to get back home, and get ready for another eight hours of work made her sink her shoulders a little more. Maybe she could hide in the kitchen with Juugo that night, and send Suigetsu to deal with the bunch of perverts, but surely Haku wouldn't be on board with her idea and that drew another sigh from her tired lips. Life was unfair.

"and you're complaining? I had to make all those copies, and throw out all the garbage" Sakura frowned, leaning her elbows on the counter, tying her hair back with a hair tie, despite them being too short to be all tamed with the thin rubber band, causing some pink strands to fall on her face.

"I have to work tonight too" the blonde whined, prodding her head against her hand, her elbow resting on the table as well, her lips closed in a cute pout. Sakura's eyes softened as she peered at the girl's tired looking face. She was slightly paler than usual, and she was starting to have dark lines under her eyes.

"Tell me, do they over work you in that place?" she asked, her fingers fiddling with her pink strands. It was a spontaneous gesture she always did when she was nervous about something, sometimes she didn't even realize it.

"Uh? Oh no! Haku is really nice, he even brought me some tea this morning, to excuse himself for keeping me there till 3 am."

The emerald eyes that had been attentively looking at her widened at that.

"You worked till three am? But then...when did you go to bed?"

Naruko raised her eyes to the ceiling as she thought about what she had done that morning.

"Uhmmm…I think it was… well, I got home, I fed Kurama, you know that damn cat is always hungry, then I had to take a shower because, you know, they smoke and drink in that place and when I get home I smell like a dumpster, so…that had to take about twenty minutes" she paused, resting her finger on her chin, wondering if she had missed something in her detailed story, missing Sakura's sad expression.

"So…it must have been around four thirty?" she guessed, she hadn't really paid any attention to what time it was, she had simply collapsed on the bed.

"And you woke up at six thirty to catch the bus at a quarter to seven" The pink haired girl concluded for her, letting out a deep sigh.

"Yeah, but it's ok, it won't be everyday, yesterday night we had more customer than usual, Haku said my presence increased business, so that is a good thing-"

"Why are you doing this to yourself?"

Naruko's eyes widened, before turning away from Sakura's. She couldn't bare her worried and accusing look. She knew she was against all her choices, and that she didn't approve, her new lifestyle in the crappy side of town.

"I can manage, I have strong shoulders" she tried to lighten the mood with her usual goofiness and wide idiotic grin, it didn't work on the Haruno though. She clenched her fists at her friend's typical behavior, she knew she was trying to reassure her, but it didn't. It made her feel worse.

"You refuse any kind of help! You have friends, people that care for you that are willing to offer you a helping hand and-"

"I know, you might not understand, but, I never had a chance to decide for anything in my life. Where I wanted to live, what I wanted to do, and now, I finally have a chance to do things in my own way"

Sakura sighed again, turning her head to look at the blonde, aware that there was no way she could make her change her mind. Naruko was stubborn, and no one could change that.

"Just…promise me that if you ever get yourself in trouble you will let us help you, I know how you tend to try and shoulder everything on your own"

"I don't need to make that promise, you know I would come to you, or to Sasuke Teme if that would happen"

She smiled at her friend's reassured face, when another voice pitched in, catching both of them by surprise.

"Nice to know Usuratonkachi"

Sasuke sat beside Sakura, a blank expression on his face, ignoring both girl's surprised stares, well until Naruko realized how he had called her.

"Hey! You damn Teme! Forget that! I would rather walk all way to hell before asking anything to you!"

She pouted, pointing her finger at him, but was ignored, as always, by the Uchiha.

"What are you doing here? I thought you had to go to the academy" Sakura asked him. She was the more suited amongst the two girls to pull out some information from him.

"Hn, I did"

"And?"

"I signed up. I start in september" was all he said, meaning they wouldn't be getting more details.

Naruko followed the exchange, wondering how Sakura could have the patience to deal with him every single day. She would have probably strangled him on the first day of their relationship, which was the reason she knew they were incompatible as a couple and could befriend the Uchiha without fawning over him as the other girls, despite his good looks, his terrible personality made it that she was never attracted to him.

"Wow, I got too much information, my head is going to explode!"

She mimicked the gesture with her hands and she smirked at Sasuke's eye twitching dangerously, his bad temper, despite being more controlled, could easily equal hers, and it usually wouldn't take much for her to annoy him to the limit.

He threw a piece of paper at her, and she huffed, throwing it immediately back at him.

"Stupid teme!"

" dobe"

"Hey we need to order, I'm starving!" Sakura tried to stop the impending fight, bringing food into the mix, it usually worked, when food was brought up Naruko would focus solely on what her stomach desired, forgetting everything else, and that meant Sasuke's insults as well.

"Oh yes! oi old man Ichiraku!"

Naruko called the owner, who had known her since she was a little girl, in her goofy manner, that caused Sakura to lower her head in shame, and Sasuke to slap a hand on his face in desperation, they weren't new to her way of addressing the kind man yelling their orders at him.

"Excuse me, is this sit occupied?" a soft voice asked the blonde, and she turned her head to the left, where the voice had come from, and she met the gaze of a red haired man, that was smiling gently down at her, and she smiled as well, blushing slightly as she took in his whole figure.

He was pale, but not as much as Sasuke, with a mop of messy red hair, with bangs that almost covered his forehead, where a reddish tattoo was visible on the left side of it, although it didn't ruin his appearance, it made him look more interesting, if not because it made her want to ask him why he had chosen that particular spot.

His clear green eyes were wide, surrounded by a thick line of what looked like eyeliner, that made them look bigger than they were.

All in all he was a very good looking man, not that it made any difference, Naruko wasn't the type to judge someone by their appearance.

"Oh no, it's free!" she grinned widely, and he nodded, sitting down next to her, ignoring the curious stares coming from the other two people sitting next to the blonde, well, at least from Sakura, Sasuke quietly glanced when no one noticed him, limiting himself to look broody and distant, and not very keen to be part of any conversation.

"So, I've never seen you around here, are you new here in Konoha?" of course being the friendly person Naruko was, she had no difficulty in trying to make small talk with anyone, and he looked like a kind person, if he had looked anything like Zabuza she would have been persuaded to avoid it.

The red head man looked at his right towards the blonde, cheeks reddening a bit, as he shyly smiled. He seemed to have lost his earlier confidence, and she found him really cute, and smiled back to encourage him.

"I just got here. I'm from Suna actually."

Naruko nodded, he looked a little too pale to be native of such a hot and sunny place. She was actually more tanned than he was and she barely stayed in the sun.

"Suna? I heard it's very hot there. Why did you move to Konoha?"

He looked very young, maybe about her age

"For college. I am going to start this year, and I'm apartment hunting. My brother and sister are already students here, but I wanted to avoid living with them"

Sakura was obviously listening to every word they were saying, trying to contain her little squeals of joy. It was the first time she saw her friend taking interest in a guy, and damn it, this one was hot too!

"Stop it" was the quiet warning that came from Sasuke, who was already dreading the future conversations he would be forced to have with the pink haired girl, that happened to be his girlfriend, and to be honest, he didn't really think the red head freak was anything remotely interesting.

"You're a college student? Just like us!" Naruko smiled, obviously introducing her friends in the mix, missing the Uchiha's homicidal glare.

"You're in college here also?"

"Yeah! So what course are you taking?"

He leaned in a little bit, to listen better to what the blonde was saying, there was slight confusion and he couldn't make out very clearly what she was saying.

"Political sciences, what about you?" he smiled again, he was starting to be really interested in the girl, she was easy to talk to and had a charming personality, and above all that he found she was very beautiful.

"Me and Sakura chan will be taking medicine" she informed him proudly. Obviously forgetting to mention the Uchiha, and he was glad for that.

"Difficult subject" he stated, feeling more intrigued by the girl, his head now resting on his head as his light green eyes looked straight in hers.

"I know, but I can take it, I like challenges" she shrugged her shoulders, taking a sip from her glass of soda, blushing a bit because of his intense stare.

He nodded at that, his body now completely facing the girl, his right arm resting on the counter, and he offered his hand to the girl, introducing himself.

"I'm Gaara, nice to meet you"

The blonde grinned, and took it, shaking it with a bit of force.

"Naruko, and those are my friends, Sakura and Sasuke teme over there, don't pay any mind to him, he's always like that"

"Tsk…Usuratonkachi" the Uchiha muttered under his breath, not really caring if they heard him or not.

Naruko smiled at the man, her eyes falling on the watch at his wrist, and she widened her eyes at the time. It sure was causing her a lot of problems on that specific day.

"Man it's late! I have a bus to take! Old man Teuchi, could you make the ramen to go? I really need to leave now."

Gaara looked puzzled, he didn't want her to leave, not before he could ask her her phone number, or when he could see her again.

"Relax dobe, I will drive you home, just eat without scaring the other poor customers"

The Uchiha's tone didn't let any space for a reply, it was definitive, meaning he had already decided for everyone.

"Teme! You don't need to drive me home!" she answered slapping her hands on the counter angrily.

"Shut up and eat!"

"Damn it Sakura! Tell him that I don't need to be driven home like a child!"

Sasuke despite his cold behavior, really cared for the girl, and he had showed her that, by appearing at her house, almost everyday for the last week, with any silly excuse he could cone up with. She didn't mind though him dropping by, if he could just admit that he was concerned for her, and then there was Sakura, that was totally on board with the worrywart. They were really a power couple in that sense.

"I asked him to, I don't have the time, cause I have a meeting with the owner of the apartment I'm sharing with the girls, in an hour."

The pink haired girl explained as she ate her portion of ramen while managing to look smug about her planning behind her back

"What are you two now? My damn bodyguards!" she muttered tapping her fingers nervously on the counter, whie giving them what could have been an imitation of the Uchiha glare, too bad hers didn't have the results she was hoping for, since both her friends didn't look minimally scared.

"Well, we're your friends, but you can call us like that if you prefer."

Sakura shrugged, raising her hand in an obvious gesture, and Naruko growled in anger, her blue eyes now moving onto Sasuke, that was quietly listening to them, not bothering to interrupt them.

"And you're ok with that?"

The Uchiha raised his eyes to look at her, despite being sitting down, he was still a little taller than her, his lips formed a thin straight line, as his fingers slipped under his chin in thought.

"Hn" he smirked at the girl, already aware that his non answer would unnerve her greatly.

"Looks like we're leaving then, Teme. I'm on a clock here you know" she grumpily said, taking her to go order in her hands. She had to run if she wanted to be on time for her other job, the one she actually really needed to make a living.

Before leaving though, she was reminded of Gaara, he was still sitting there, and she blushed in shame, when she figured he had assisted at the whole scene. He must think her an idiot, although she wasn't really sure why she even cared, he was a stranger after all.

"It was nice meeting you Gaara, I hope to see you around"

"I hope I don't sound too forward, I usually don't do these kind of things" he said, looking embarrassed as he fiddled with his fingers, cheeks red. He looked out of his element, and Naruko blinked in confusion.

"I was thinking that maybe you could give me your phone number" he smiled kindly, and his eyes stared straight into hers. Naruko suddenly felt agitated, not knowing how to act from that point on, it had never happened to her, and apart from her innocent crush on a complete stranger, she had no experience whatsoever.

"My…my phone number….uhh of course" she rubbed the back of her head, hoping it would miraculously manifest itself in her mind, because she didn't remember it, well, actually she had never bothered to memorize it, thinking she wouldn't need it, but now, she was proven wrong.

"I can give you mine if you prefer" he offered, and she blinked as she realized he was really interested in her, and sje had yet to answer him. He liked her, despite her scars, her not so fancy appearance and despite her lack of manners, as he had witnessed earlier, what was wrong with him? Why would he want to call her?

"But…but why would you-" she tried to ask him, that just proved how inexperienced she was.

"To call you, I would like to ask you out, on a date, if you're not with someone already" he looked hopeful and she really tried to say something, but nothing came out.

"Uhhh…." She unintelligently said too shocked to form a coherent word, and she totally missed Sakura taking out a piece of paper and a pen, and scribble something on it, before handing it to the red headed man.

"She is available, call her during lunch time" the pink haired girl winked at him, a little too happily for Naruko's liking, she did look like she was trying to set her up, but then, Gaara had offered her the right opportunity to take control of her love life without her even realizing it.

Sasuke groaned, suddenly irritated by the sudden twist the whole situation had taken. He didn't trust the guy, an his overprotective side wanted so badly to surface, but, he was aware that nothing would spare him a beating from Sakura, if he so much tried to interfere.

"We need to leave now dobe, weren't you in a hurry?" Sasuke glared at Gaara, and the red head didn't retract his eyes, keeping the contact, not at all intimidated by the Uchiha, that frowned at him.

"Uh? Oh yeah!" she tightened the grip on her cup of ramen, smiling shyly at Gaara that was now standing in front of her.

"See you soon then" his voice was velvet like to her ears, she didn't know if it was because she knew he liked her and she felt suddenly self conscious.

"I…yeah" she gruffly said nervously fixing a fallen strand of blonde hair behind her ear, blushing slightly.

"She will be waiting for you phone call" Sakura stepped in, making Sasuke growl in annoyance, and Naruko blink in surprise.

"You ready dobe?"

"S-sure! Bye Gaara, I…have to go now" she waved at him, and he smiled at her.

"We're going now" Sasuke pulled her away, stopping only to give Sakura a small, barely visible smile, but as she leaned in to give him a kiss, he pushed Naruko out of the ramen stand, and towards his car, smiling wider as he heard Sakura's whining.

"Just a raincheck for me? You're going to keep me waiting, won't you" she hang her head on her shoulders, and waved at them from her spot on the stool next to a confused looking Gaara, but his eyes softened at the sight of the blonde girl, pushed into the car by Sasuke. Sakura, obviously noticed and she grinned, as she too looked at her friend with affection.

" _I think…this will be the start of something beautiful"_ She thought smugly, after all, it was thanks to her, that Gaara and Naruko would probably get together, and she already imagined a perfect future for the two of them.

After all, what could possibly go wrong?

 **Author's note:**

 **Hello everyone!**

 **So, as you can see, there will be a bit of Gaara x Naruko in the story, so, let me know what you think, about the chapter, and I hope I will be able to update sooner, will Itachi finally make his appearance? I guess we will find out next chapter!**

 **Thank you to the people who added this story on their alert list, I really appreciate it!**

 **Feedback is always appreciated!**

 **Till next time!**

 **Darkshadows92**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Kakashi groaned, as he tried to find a more comfortable position in the uncomfortable chair he was sitting in, as he lazily turned the page of the book he was reading, glancing out the window of the hospital room he was sitting in. The city looked almost like a deserted area, It was about dinner time and everyone was home with their families, everyone except him.

He sighed, his head turning towards the beeping machine that ringed close to his ears, and his eyes fell on the seemingly relaxed face of Shisui Uchiha, laying in his hospital bed, only the shadow, of the man he used to be.

His tousled black curls, had grown and were now sprawled underneath his head like a crown. his face was paler, and it had thinned out, as the rest of his body, making it look more angular, in place of the rounded healthier shape it had been. The round cheeks that once filled his face, were no more, and even his fingers, that were lying limp along his body, over the covers, looked slimmer than he remembered. He was skin and bones, and if not for the mask that covered his face to help him breathe, Kakashi would say he was looking at a corpse, because that body didn't look like it belonged to a living man, if the state Shisui was in could be considered life. He was in a deep comatose state, with no cognition of what happened around him, and doctors had given close to zero chances he could wake up, and had tried to convince his young wife to disconnect the machine that helped him breathe, but to no avail. She still had hope, and Kakashi admired her determination.

The grey haired man's fingers, trailed the high cheekbones, tracing the lines of the plastic mask, feeling the soft smooth skin under his fingertips and he allowed a small nostalgic smile to pass on his lips. Shisui had always been a handsome man, and though Kakashi never held romantic feelings towards him, couldn't help but admire the delicate features, and pass his fingers through his black curls, avoiding the damaged area that was still covered with bandages, covering the wound left by the bullet that had hit him, the other being in his high abdomen, covered by the white pristine sheets.

"I don't know why I keep doing this to myself…" he murmured, resting a hand under his face, tilting it a little bit, he wasn't sure Shisui could hear him, and some part of his mind, hoped he couldn't because he wasn't proud of the confessions he made within the small hospital room, and he knew the other man would probably share the sentiment, although Shisui was never a judgemental person.

Kakashi wasn't a very talkative person, but whenever he walked into Shisui's room, he felt the need to pour his soul out, revealing things and feelings he would never tell. He was bearing so much pain, he just didn't know where to turn anymore, or how to let it out, and so, he had started to visit Shisui more than usual, and spent most of his free hours in the quiet of the hospital, especially when he knew nobody else would be there.

Tenzo didn't understand, and he was sick of reading sympathy in other people' s eyes once they found out about his troubled past, so this was the only place he knew he wouldn't be judged and it gave him some comfort to see Shisui was still there somehow, fighting for his life.

"I guess, I blame myself for what happened to you, and I don't know where to turn anymore to find who did this to you. Every proof I collect, leads down to Itachi, and I can't help wonder if I did the right choice letting him go that night"

He sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out another deep breath. Kakashi's life was filled with regrets, the suicide of his father, the death of his teacher that had been like a father figure to him, the deaths of his two best friends, and now Shisui and Itachi, with the exception that the latter was still alive somewhere, although it didn't give him any comfort, since he hadn't heard anything about him in the last four years except for his affiliation with Akatsuki, a criminal organization that was up to no good, but that the police could not do anything against, since they never found enough proof to incriminate them for their minor crimes, and it's members had a keen habit of disappearing.

"I know you would say it wasn't my fault, you were always too kind with me. You would smile, and you would talk me out of my depression with that gentle tone it belonged to you only. But I don't think you would be able to convince me this time, Shisui."

Another sigh, as he finally put the book down, leaning his elbows on his legs, throwing his face in his hands, in a silent desperate gesture. His eyes glistened, but he couldn't shed tears, he didn't have the strength to cry anymore.

"Itachi…I couldn't protect him like you asked me to. He became a rogue agent and refuses any contact. He went down the wrong road, and I couldn't prevent it. I know you would be disappointed if you could witness all the shit that went down after the shooting…" he trailed off, not feeling like reliving such moments, knowing that what had happened with Itachi, was just another one of his failures.

His dark eyes fell on his shoes, as he studied the plain white tiles of the hospital floor in silence. The continuous beeping of the machines and Kakashi's breathing were the only sounds that could be heard in the darkening room.

A nurse opened the door, sending Kakashi a curious glance as she hurried towards the bed, checking the machines scribbling something in a folder next to the bed, and Kakashi took it as his cue to leave and picked up his book, and with a last glance at the Uchiha, left the room silently, closing the door behind him, walking in the hallway illuminated by cold neon lights, avoiding the few people that crossed his path, as he slowly reached the exit, his mind in a whirl of thoughts, he almost didn't hear someone calling and running towards him.

"officer Hatake!"

He raised his gaze, finally meeting the friendly one of Hana Uchiha. She walked up to him, a blanket folded in her hands as well as a bag on her shoulder, her brown eyes were warm, exactly like Shisui's had been.

"Hana, I told you so many times to drop the formalities, just call me Kakashi" he said softly. He could barely look at her in the eye, he felt like he wasn't worthy to do so, not after all that she had gone through, and that he blamed upon himself. She was too kind to him, exactly like all the others.

"You're Shisui's superior, I could never adress you so informally"

She explained with a smile. She was really a strong woman, and he admired her devotion towards her husband, but it was evident it was taking it's toll on her already frail body.

Her face was paler and thinner, with dark lines under her eyes, her hair was cut short, because she barely had the time to care for her appearance, and she was awfully thin, he feared she might break in front of him.

"Well I guess you can't be persuaded then, at least let this old man offer you a cup of tea" he offered kindly slipping his book in his jacket, if nothing, he would make sure she ate something, he knew that she neglected herself, and that she skipped meals more often then she admitted. He had learnt that from the girl's mother, who was a trainer in the police's cynophilic unit.

Hana herself didn't work in the forces, she had studied to become a vet, and had her own animal clinic in Konoha, although she was neglecting her job as well, other than just herself and the practice wasn't really earning her much money.

"Sure, why not" she accepted with a nod, fixing the bag on her shoulders, and Kakashi raised a brow at the thing.

"The hospital's cafeteria makes good enough tea, I wouldn't suggest having dinner there though, believe me, it's exactly like they say. Hospital food sucks"

Hana explained, and the grey haired man nodded in understanding, allowing her to guide him towards the hospital again, and after placing their orders at the counter, where the woman working there called Hana by her name, they sat down in the most remote angle of the cafeteria, facing each other.

"So, how have you been doing?" Kakashi asked, resting his arms on the small metal table, his hands clasping together, as he studied her face with his mismatched eyes, his only visible feature, since he liked to cover his face with a scarf, or a mask. It was an habit he had picked up when he worked as an undercover agent.

"I'm fine" she smiled, but to the man it looked fake. He rested his head on his hand, peering at her face from under his lashes.

"I want the true answer, not the one you give to everyone to reassure them"

Her breath hitched, and she almost dropped the fuming cup of tea she was holding, she didn't expect for him to be so blunt. She wiped a stray tear that rolled down her cheek, trying to not break down in front of the man.

"I…I am doing my best…" her voice was unsure, and it almost broke down, trembling at the end. It was obvious his question had upset her a bit, she looked distraught, and her eyes avoided his inspecting gaze.

"But…it's so hard sometimes…" she looked so broken, that Kakashi felt the need to lean a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I know it is." He said with a soothing voice. He wasn't usually very good at comforting people, but he at least wanted to try and make the woman feel better.

Hana, gripped the cup tightly, her shoulders shaking slightly, as she tried to keep hold on her emotions, it was very rare for her to let them slip. It was the reason she tried to keep herself busy most of the time, and she kept up a façade to trick everyone into thinking she was doing fine. She didn't want people to worry about her, and up to that moment, only Kakashi had seen under her mask. Maybe because he was just as broken as she was.

She sniffed a little bit slumping her shoulders down. It had been as if a big weight was placed upon her.

"I miss him… so much. I spend days in his room waiting and hoping that he will wake up. Every day that goes by it's excruciatingly long and the more time goes by, the more I fear he won't wake up. What am I going to do then? The thing that had me going up to this moment, was the hope he would wake up…what am I going to do when he's gone?"

Kakashi's eyes widened, and he leaned against the edge of the table with his chest, his hands immediately clasping with hers.

"Don't lose hope, he might still-" but was interrupted by her shaking her head. He knew the chances were veru thin…but still..

"I…I spoke with the doctors they said I…I should get prepared…" she stifled back a sob, and the grey haired man felt his own eyes get shiny with tears. Up to that moment he had tried to convince himself that Shisui would make it, but now, it seemed like that hope was shattering, and he found himself at a loss of words, feeling the guilt and remorse for not being able to catch however had done this to the Uchiha.

"It isn't fair you know, sometimes I think it just isn't fair. He was such a gentle person, so loving and caring. He didn't deserve all this. We had all our life ahead of us, together. I wanted to grow old with him by my side, and know…the life I imagined, everything is just falling to pieces… I lost our baby…and know I'm losing him" she was a sobbing mess by now, Kakashi just gripped her shoulders tighter.

"I was two and a half months pregnant, did you know that? When it happened, I had planned on telling Shisui on his birthday…I lost it due to all the stress…and Shisui will never know"

Kakashi felt another pang of guilt stab at his heart, he hadn't know about it, and he looked away from her, unable to hold his gaze on her.

"I never blamed you for what happened. No one does, I know you are doing your best. I appreciate that you still come and see him, you're the only one from the district that visits him still"

She smiled weakly, and he felt a little lighter, although the weight he still carried,

"Hana…I want you to know, I will find the person that did this to you" he promised, a hard expression on his face, as he sat there, holding her hands in his in comfort , until the cell phone he used for work rang, and he had to let go as he fished for it in his pants.

" _ **Hatake"**_ he answered simply, looking away from Hana's puffy eyes.

" _ **Hatake, it's chief Uchiha, mayor Sarutobi has summoned an urgent meeting. I need you to be here in ten minutes"**_ the gruff voice of Fugaku sounded solemn and he feared something bad had happened, but he didn't have time to ask, Fugaku disconnected the call before he could do so.

"Is everything all right?" Hana asked raising her head, wiping the tears away with her sleeve, suddenly concerned for the reason he might have been called, hoping it was nothing serious. Since the event that had changed her life, she couldn't even bare to listen to the news, and hated to think that someone else might be living the same nightmare as her.

"It seems there is an emergency. I'm sorry I have to leave, we didn't even get to finish our tea" he apologized, putting his phone back in his pocket as he stood up from his chair.

"Don't worry I understand. I should go see Shisui now anyway" she reassured him with a small smile, standing from her place as well, picking up the huge bag, getting ready to leave, the tea barely touched.

He nodded in understanding, although secretly concerned, since she hadn't had anything to eat, and he was sure she wouldn't leave Shisui's side to eat later. She was surely going to skip dinner. He knew she was afraid to leave her husband's room once she was there, afraid something might happen while she was gone.

Maybe he should ask someone to deliver something to her later.

"Hana…this is my phone number, if you ever need to talk or just vent, just know that you can rely on me" He awkwardly handed her one of his cards, it was the ones he usually gave to victims of crimes he was investigating on, in case they had information, so he always carried a bunch of them along. He didn't know if she would actually call him and take him up on his offer, but he wanted her to know she could rely on him.

"Thank you officer-"

"Mah...Come on, you can call me Kakashi, I will take offence if you call me officer Hatake ever again" he interrupted her, shrugging off the odd feeling that swell in his chest every time someone called him like that. It always brought back unwelcomed memories of his father, that was the former officer Hatake.

"O-ok I will" she mumbled, feeling a little uncertain. It felt odd talking to him so casually, despite having just spilled her heart out to the man, before they had never been that close, but now, she relished in all the comfort she could get, to overcome her grief, and another friendly ear to bear the burden was just as welcomed as any other little act of kindness for her.

The grey haired man nodded, before turning on his heels and waving his hand at her as he walked off with a quick pace.

He had another person to worry about now, he knew the phone call to Tenzo to warn him he was running late, would probably turn into a nasty affair, since he was already running two hours late, and his boyfriend lately had been suspicious about his whereabouts. Rightly so, since he never told him where he did pass his time. He sighed, pressing the call button, preparing himself for the umpteenth fight between them.

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Naruko sighed as she left her bathroom after taking a quick shower and getting ready for another evening at work, she entered the living room where she was welcomed by a frowning Sasuke sitting on her couch, glaring daggers at Kurama, that was quietly licking one of his paws next to him on the sofa.

It seemed like the cat knew just how much the Uchiha despised him and irritated him on purpose, since every time he was there he would always sit next to him, fall asleep against him or try and file his nails on his jeans, ending up scratching him in the process.

At the moment, she could actually understand Kurama's annoyance towards the Uchiha; for, he was actually starting to grate on her worn out nerves too, since he had apparently decided to stay there and follow her to work. She didn't understand why he would even want to, since he always refused to set a foot inside the premise, declaring it was not a place for dignified people like he was. She didn't know what the hell he meant, but decided to shrug it off, she had other problems to deal with, that had nothing to do with Sasuke and his ego.

"You annoying ball of fur" she heard him mutter, and she suffocated a snort at the typical scene, deciding to ignore him, and, as she passed by him, she failed to notice the Uchiha's eyes widening once he caught sight of her, and how she was dressed with her typical uniform, as she liked to call it and that it consisted in a black tank top that showed her midriff completely, her black belly tattoo completely exposed, tight jeans shorts that stopped mid thigh and a pair of orange and black sneakers, that were comfortable since she had to stand and walk around all night, her face was free of make up as usual, and her blonde hair was tied in a simple ponytail, her bangs falling freely in front of her forehead, barely covering her bright blue eyes.

"Teme, are you really sure you want to come with me at Kubikiriocho?"

She casually asked, taking her cat away from Sasuke's lap, before he could actually consider killing it, and stroking his fur for a minute, before releasing it watching as he went to hide, probably under her bed, one of his favorite spots when her black haired friend was around.

Sasuke took that as the right moment to ask what he had been wanting to since she had walked in the living room.

"Where do you think you're going dressed like that, stupid dobe?"

Naruko turned around, puzzled by his low and angry voice, she didn't expect that kind of reaction from him. Blue eyes met his black irritated ones, and she immediately felt like switching in her defensive mode.

"What the hell teme, this is my uniform!" she screeched, her hands on her hips, as she glared back at him with a raised brow, not understanding what the big deal was about. They were just clothes to her, they didn't

"That can barely be called a uniform! You look like a cheap whore dobe!"

The Uchiha raised his voice crossing his arms on his chest, like he always did when he was getting angry, the infamous Uchiha glare in full force, but Naruko didn't back down, she was used to it and it didn't have any effect on her.

"Like a what? Damn Teme! Why does it even bother you? Are you and Sakura the fashion police now, other than my bodyguards and babysitters?"

Sasuke scoffed at that, his face turning to look at something else, he was losing ground, and she knew it.

"What the hell are you talking about, Usuratonkachi?"

"You think I don't know that Sakura is behind all this! She wants you to keep your eyes on me, and when you can't do it, she's the one attached to my hip! What the hell is wrong with you guys! Do you think I can't make it on my own?"

Now she was angry, and the Uchiha knew he had to back down if he wished to get out of the fight in one piece, but his damn pride wouldn't let him stand down to the damn hysterical girl.

"You don't understand don't you? You prefer to humiliate yourself in front of a bunch of perverts instead than letting me and my family help you! Why do you think it bothers me so much? This…this place is not for you!"

He widened his hands, indicating the house and everything that was linked to it.

"Hey, I'm not a fucking stripper working in a club or something, and Kubikiri is not a place full of perverts"

"Really? Then why the revealing clothes?"

"Listen stupid Teme, I need this job so I don't care, if Haku tells me to put on a hat made of fruit all evening I will! So spare me your moralistic thoughts and live with it!"

Sasuke scowled, he was very aware of the dobe's reasoning and he knew, just like Sakura, that there was no way in hell she would change her mind.

Naruko huffed, it was a good thing she could read him so well, or she might end up killing him, she wasn't so dense when it came to Sasuke Uchiha. She had a talent in interpreting his twisted personality, and knew exactly who was the cause of his anger.

"I know you have something else nagging at you, and I know why, but you don't need to worry about me! I know how to defend myself, and, if I ever meet that brother of yours, I'm going to definitely kick his sorry ass!"

The Uchiha's lips quirked upwards against his will, he would actually pay to see her do it, but he knew it wouldn't help him with his own anger towards Itachi. He hated him, and he wanted to make him pay for what he made him and their family go through. He hated to see his mother crying whenever Itachi's name was brought up, just as much as he hated her for being so forgiving. She was the only one in the family that truly believed he was innocent, and was waiting for her son with open arms. She believed he had other reasons for leaving so abruptly while his father deemed his brother a wortess criminal, who didn't deserve her tears. It was tearing the family apart, and he hated it.

It was hard for Sasuke to accept. Since he was a child, he had looked up to his brother as an example to follow. He had wanted to be just like him, and constantly seeked for nothing else but his attention and approval, and now that he was gone, he felt abandoned and confused, and that added up to the anger and shame of ruining their family name. He noticed how people looked at him, and he couldn't help but resent it, he wasn't the one with the hands stained with blood, but still, everyone looked at them as if they were dirt.

"As if I'd let you, I will be the one to deal with Itachi"

Naruko rolled her eyes, she had been hearing the same thing for years, so she was used to it. Not that she didn't agree with him, she personally wanted to kick Itachi's ass for what her friend had been going through, although she didn't know him and had never met him, she felt a burning hate for the man.

"Fine, you take all the glory teme, but now I really have to get to work, so forget about that ass hole for tonight and come with me, I will treat you to dinner" she grinned, aware that the black haired teen had sophisticated tastes and would never stoop so low as to actually have a meal at Kubikiriocho.

Sasuke snorted, his face in a grimace of disgust as he sat up from the couch, looking for his car keys.

"As if I'd dare to eat something that was made in that shit hole"

Naruko took out a little left over tuna from her fridge, putting it into Kurama's bowl, knowing he would come out and eat it when he felt like it, probably when he was sure Sasuke was gone.

They headed out together, Naruko closing the door behind her, when Sasuke stopped in his tracks, as a thought came to his mind.

"Thinking about your clothes, I think that guy we met earlier wouldn't mind seeing you like this" he smirked at Naruko's blushing face, flicking his keys around his index finger with satisfaction, ignoring the fuming girl walking behind him.

"Shut up bastard!"

When they got to Kubikiriocho, they found Haku that was listlessly turning the pages of a magazine, humming a soft tune , his elbows on the counter holding his head up, he was enjoying the quiet before the customers rushed in for dinner, and for the nightly entertainment.

Naruko was also glad for that, that way she had some time to go and snatch something from the kitchen, where hopefully Juugo had already something ready, because she was starving, before doing so though, she went to meet her boss, ignoring his usual eccentric attire.

"Hey Haku! Whatcha doin?" she greeted the brunette, that raised a hand wavong it slightly at the girl, not bothering to raise his eyes to look at her. He did notice someone sitting in one of the stools though and that made him curious, forcing him to look in his direction, blinking at the boy's appearance, and he turned to look at Naruko, who was busy wearing her tiny apron, on the other side of the counter.

"Friend of yours?" he asked raising a brow, The boy did look a little out of place there, and curiously enough, he reminded Haku of someone else that occasionally walked into the bar, and that had the same aloof presence, and shared the same attractive dark look, he briefly wondered if they were related, because that kind of delicate beauty was rare.

Naruko grinned, and soon walked back to the man, a little annoyed that she couldn't sneak in the kitchen yet, meaning her appetite had to wait a while longer.

"Yeah, that's Sasuke Teme" she introduced him, and Sasuke rolled his eyes at her hearing the stupid nickname.

"Dobe…" he growled lowly, but Naruko ignored him. He didn't know why she had to introduce him as Teme to everyone she met. Haku though, didn't pay any mind to their brief exchange, he was concentrated on his face, his brown eyes studying him shamelessly for a couple of minutes, making Sasuke uncomfortable. He didn't understand the man's interest in him.

The feminie looking man, made a small cheeky smile, as if he had figured something out, as he flicked his long hair back.

"Ah I see, he looks familiar" Haku shrugged, and the Uchiha tensed, immediately connecting the reason the other man had been staring at him, the only one that still hadn't realized was Naruko, that was staring at the two with a confused expression.

"Familiar you say?" she wondered, a finger on her chin as she stared at Sasuke with narrow eyes, as if trying to unlock one of the world's biggest secrets.

"You really are an idiot" Sasuke, gritted his teeth at the girl's slow witted brain, that had still to catch the obvious hint the other had dropped.

"Eh, Haku always speaks in an incomprehensible way" she shrugged it off, and the Uchiha decided against smashing her head on the counter, and directed his attention at the brown haired man, that now looked more interested in him than before.

"So, I take it you met my brother" Sasuke's voice was low and it was obvious for the blonde, that knew him well, that he was trying to suppress his anger.

"What do you- ah!" Naruko gasped, her hand shooting to cover her mouth, as she knew it was hanging open, and it didn't give her a very bright appearance. Her blue orbs widened as she caught some movement coming from the door, and looked behind Sasuke, that was still facing her and looking at her with a raised brow, taking in a newly entered customer, that made her finally realize what Haku meant.

" _No way!"_ was her first thought, when she took in the man's appearance. He was tall, and with a lean body, although it was covered by a pair of dark ripped jeans and a black leather jacket, that was barely left open near his neck, of course that wasn't what caught the girl's attention, she was more concentrating on his face, and she was surprised at how similar to Sasuke's his features were. The same endless black eyes, the same thin lips and pale complexion, but where the younger's face was still rounder and puffier, the other's was sharper and thinner with higher cheekbones and dark lines under his eyes, that could be due to lack of sleep.

His hair was also longer, tied in a neat low ponytail with shorter bangs that fell freely on his face. It was impossible, to not recognize who he was.

"Dobe? Are you all right? Looks like you've seen a ghost"

Sasuke furrowed his brows at her distraught expression, turning his head to check what had caught her attention.

He froze when his black eyes clashed with a very similar pair of dark ones. Sasuke hadn't seen those eyes for four years, now, and he felt his blood boil.

"You…" he muttered, standing up from the stool, hands turning into fists.

"Long time no see, little brother"

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 **Authot's note:**

 **Hello everyone!**

 **I'm sorry for the long wait, I had some problems on my computer, but I hopefully solved the, I will keep my fingers crossed.**

 **I hope you like thie chapter, I was a little unsure of the ending but it felt right to stop it there, so let me know what you think!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Kakashi rushed towards the City Hall, that was now in full view, meaning it wouldn't take much longer for him to get to Sarutobi's office, where he and Chief Uchiha were probably waiting for him to arrive. He could already imagine Fugaku's livid face. The Uchiha was used to his tardiness although the Hatake knew that wouldn't spare him a scolding later on.

He rushed over the infinite steps, his patience already wearing thin to wait for the elevator, and he reached the third floor in half a minute, breathing heavily but not stopping until he got to the office and opened the door in a swift move, plopping down in the closest chair he could find. He had run all the way there, and although he was trained he still felt a little out of breath and sweaty, which made quite an uncomfortable feeling.

The Hatake usually wasn't the type to care if he was late, the ones that knew him were accustomed to him never being punctual, but when work was involved it was another matter. He slumped down in his chair, feeling Fugaku's cold glare on him as Mayor Sarutobi acknowledged his arrival with a quick nod in his direction.

Kakashi answered with a nod of his own, and he curiously eyed his surroundings quickly noting that only the higher ranks had been called as he eyed Shikaku Nara, the deputy chief, Inoichi Yamanaka, the head of the psychology police section, Ibiki Morino the head of the correctional warden along with his most trusted officer, Anko Mitarashi. His mismatched eyes meeting the brown ones of his colleague sitting next to him, Genma Shiranui a sergeant, that was playing with a toothpick that he always seemed to keep in his mouth, it was a nervous habit he had picked up when he was younger, and everyone was accustomed to it.

Next to him, sat one of Kakashi's best friends and the man that had took it as his personal mission to cheer him up after Shisui's tragedy, one of the reasons he avoided hanging around the district too much. Gai Maito-who also happened to be a part of his investigation team along with the currently on maternity leave Kurenai Yuhi- gave him a big toothy grin, followed by a thumbs up, that made the grey haired man sigh. He ignored his friend, and looked ahead of him, raising a brow when he caught a glimpse of a third person standing next to the Mayor, his left hand man, Danzo Shimura who stood a few steps behind the other two his only visible eye closed and his forehead wrinkled , as if he was thinking hard about something. Kakashi didn't focus on the man for long, for the Chief cleared his throat, getting ready to speak.

"So, now that everyone is here, I think we can finally explain the reason why we called you all here" the Uchiha's voice was stern and serious as he caught a brief glimpse of his subordinates, avoiding Kakashi intentionally as he leaned his palms on the desk in front of him, his eyes closing for a couple of seconds.

"Mayor Sarutobi has been informed by the governor that the credibility of our district has dangerously decreased. The population of Konoha's doesn't trust that we are competent enough to defend them. This is obviously due to the fact that in nineteen years, we still haven't found a legitimate culprit for the murder of the beloved mayor Namikaze Minato and more recently for letting the suspect for Uchiha Shisui's attempted murder, leave the city."

Fugaku sighed. His fists balling on the desk, his knuckles turning white as he tried to suppress his anger. His pitch black eyes immediately focusing on the grey haired Hatake, that raised his own eyes meeting the chiefs and he knew Fugaku was somehow blaming him. He didn't blame his superior for that, he felt already guilty for the way he had handled the situation. He had been too soft, blinded by the friendship he had shared with the younger Uchiha.

Danzo stepped up, getting close to Fugaku still slightly curved on the desk. and gave a severe look at the small group of people.

"Word has spread that Uchiha Itachi joined the ranks of dangerous a criminal organization, the Akatsuki. The fact that he was a member of Konoha's police forces doesn't help the situation."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed at that, his gaze running to Fugaku, who was still leaning on the desk with a resigned expression on his face.

"Those are just voices, we don't have the certainty they are true" Sarutobi tried to defend, his voice slightly rising as he sent his right hand man a scolding glare, that the man reciprocated.

"I'm afraid it is indeed the truth, Hiruzen. I have proof for what I'm saying. See for yourself" Danzo had a wicked gleam in his eye as he took out a folder he had been hiding under his jacket for all that time and made it fall on the desk, in front of the Mayor's hands that opened it immediately, his eyes widening at the pictures inside.

Fugaku sighed, his dark eyes snapping open, studying the small stack of papers in Sarutobi's hands.

"What does it have to do with anything?" Fugaku's voice boomed in the room, his eyes held silent fury and for a second they seemed to glow red, matching the anger that transpired from his voice.

Everyone in the room knew it was a delicate topic for the Uchiha and no one ever dared utter the name of the Chief's traitorous son in front of him so easily, so there was a minute of general silent astonishment before Hiruzen stood up glaring at Danzo in disapproval, breaking the shocked silence.

"Fugaku is right, this has nothing to do with the reason we called for this meeting" Shikaku agreed, his tone slightly bored, as he leaned his head on his hand as he shifted in his seat.

Danzo ignored the Nara, and tried to hide his satisfied smirk, but it was quite obvious he was enjoying Fugaku's discomfort. Everyone knew that there was bad blood between the two men and that it went way back, since the murders of the newly appointed Mayor and Fugaku's best friend, Minato Namikaze and his wife, Kushina Uzumaki.

The murders had been archived as unsolved and at the time it had been a true shock for the city. The Law enforcers had put out every agent, every information to find a valid motive for the murder, although Fugaku, that at the time had been a low ranking officer, had always had his suspects that it had been an inside job, and the reason was to be searched for in the mission of the late mayor to eradicate any form of corruption within the higher ranks of the city.

A mission he couldn't finish, since he had been killed before he could do so, and Fugaku as well as others didn't think it was a coincidence. It had been an execution, a warning and no one after that had took on the Namikaze's legacy.

Sarutobi had taken back the seat, aware that there wasn't anybody else that could take Minato's place, although Danzo had tried to persuade him and get him to nominate another successor, but Hiruzen hadn't listened. Despite him sharing Minato's desire to fight the growing wave of crime and corruption, he felt he did not have the energy and strength to handle such a delicate situation, so he had leaned on his right hand man, Danzo, that had took on the new found power, using it at his advantage, forming his own organization, that was supposed to support the police forces, but in reality, they only hindered any attempt Fugaku and his colleagues made, and some sort of hatred was born between the newly appointed Chief of Police, and the mayor's right hand man.

"Itachi, is Fugaku's son. How can he be believable as Chief, if his own son is a rogue agent?"

Here it was, Danzo had given his first strike, and the whole room fell into a shocked silence. Fugaku snapped his head up his eyes burning into the older man's only visible one.

"My… son. He stopped being a son of mine four years ago."

Danzo hummed, he was still reeling in the satisfaction of having forced Fugaku in such a distressed and angered state.

"You can deny it as much as you want, Chief, but he is still your flesh and blood"

Fugaku groaned at that. That disgusting old man was really throwing salt on his wounds.

The Nara noticed his superiors discomfort and sighed, taking a cigarette out from the package he had in his pocket, rolling it around in his fingers, before putting it to rest on his ear.

"Mr Shimura, I think you're overstepping your boundaries in speaking in such a way to our Chief. Itachi's actions do not mirror the respectability of his family. He is his own person, and has made his own choices. I think the people of Konoha are smart enough to separate the two things"

Shikaku side glanced at the older man, not appreciating the way the man was deliberately attacking Fugaku. The man had suffered enough, he didn't need to be reminded of that.

"I think Shikaku is right. Danzo, let's go on with the real reason we called for this meeting" Hiruzen stood up, and Danzo expression changed, to one of silent fury, but he wouldn't back down.

"I think you are making a mistake, Hiruzen, this is something we shouldn't underestimate"

"We will talk about it, but it's not the focal point right now"

The older man didn't say anything else. He would have time to deal with his advisor later. Right now he had other priorities.

He sat down again, feeling like the issue was settled, and took a big deep breath and raised his eyes on the small crowd of people that still had to understand the point of why they had actually been called.

"We can't allow another failure. We have to find who tried to kill one of our most promising agents, Shisui Uchiha. From the information we collected, we know he was investigating Minato's death, comes out he had found some important information." He paused, taking in the shocked faces of the people in the room.

"How come no one knew about it?"

Kakashi just had to ask, it didn't matter if it wasn't his place to much such a question. He had investigated the case thoroughly and didn't know anything about that, and from Fugaku and the others shocked faces, he wasn't the only one who had been kept in the dark.

"Who put him under that assignment? Because I sure didn't"

Fugaku rumbled furiously. It was rare that the mayor would give orders to one of his officers without informing him before he did so. Especially of such an important case like Minato's.

Hiruzen sighed, accepting both questions. He had kept quiet long enough, and he could not hide the truth from them anymore. There had been an important turn of events and he knew he didn't have much time anymore.

"It was top secret, no one had to know about it. I personally asked Shisui because I knew he was reliable and a great agent, one of the best, and he was used on working undercover. We had an agreement, and his mission would have been revealed only if it lead to results. Which it did, but, it also lead to him almost being killed"

Sarutobi sighed again, his hands stroking his own forehead in deep thought. Regret evident on his face.

"Shisui came across some secret documents that Minato himself had hid. Apparently he had the feeling that something was going to happen to him, so he wrote a secret code and hid it in a secure place. The document was given the codename Kyuby, so that only those close to him would know how to decipher it.

I have no idea how Shisui came across to it since we had searched for it after his death, but he did, and I fear it was the reason why someone tried to eliminate him. I have no idea what's in that code or how the information leaked out of my office, but I know is that Akatsuki is somehow trying to get their hands on it and for that I fear someone from the organization attacked Shisui. I don't know why they would be after it, I am afraid they might have been hired by someone who wants what is on that document, the problem is that it went missing the night of Shisui's assault"

He finished speaking leaning back in the chair, the atmosphere in the room was now heavy, and he felt the weight of months, years of secrets lift a bit.

"So, what Danzo said earlier, had something to do with this meeting after all"

Shikaku was the first one to break the silence. He did it with his usual blunt way, not holding back his thoughts.

"It did in a way, but we still have no proof it was Itachi"

Inoichi had stayed quiet till that moment. He had visited Itachi that night, asked him questions to verify his mental health, so he was sure about what he was saying.

Fugaku sighed, putting his hand into his pocket, he knew the next few months were going to be challenging.

"What do you want us to do then, Hiruzen?"

The old mayor closed his eyes, before snapping them open, to look at the black haired man at his left,

"I need you to get a hold of that document before they fall in the wrong hands"

"It's been four years Hiruzen. How do you know it already hasn't? "

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Sasuke felt pure hatred, he could barely stand to look at his older brother in that moment, he just wanted to vent, let out all the anger and sadness he had bottled up for so long, and that he immediately couldn't contain anymore.

He hated that he was being so low as to not being capable of keeping a cold façade, like Itachi, he could barely recognize his brother under that impassive mask.

And it was in that moment that it hit him, Itachi was a completely different person now.

Sasuke had never tried to imagine what impact meeting his brother again would have, but he never thought he would be so disappointed in seeing him so changed. He hated to admit that somewhere deep within him, he had hoped to find a little bit of the affection he once held for him, he had hoped it was all a big mistake, but now, seeing the way Itachi was looking at him… it was like reality had hit him hard and now, the only thing he felt was pure hate for his sibling.

"Itachi… how dare you show your face after all the hurt you caused? "

He growled, his voice shaking just like his body from all the anger he couldn't hold in anymore.

"Hn, So foolish, little brother." Itachi stepped up, ignoring Sasuke, moving to stand closer to the counter, so he could order something to drink. He hadn't intended to get into a fight that evening, he was already fed up with some other troubles and didn't need a vengeful younger brother that wanted to get in a fight with him.

"Don't you dare fucking ignore me, Itachi! We have to settle this!"

Sasuke was blinded by rage, he couldn't stand his brother dismissing him as if he was a child, and hurled his fist forward, determined to hurt him as much as he could.

Itachi wasn't caught by surprise though, he was actually expecting some brash action from Sasuke.

He stopped the fist with his open hand, and held the other still, answering with a punch of his own, hitting Sasuke right in the stomach.

"Have you not learnt anything, Sasuke? Never attack someone without a plan. I thought I had taught you better"

The younger Uchiha doubled over, clutching his stomach tightly with his eyes shut tightly, and a small layer of sweat on his forehead.

"Sasuke!" a feminine voice reached his ears and he growled, trying to get away from his friend that was trying to check if he was okay.

"I am fine Usuratonkachi! Mind your own damn business!"

Naruko frowned, her hands on her hips as she looked down at the still crunched up figure.

"Stubborn mule!" she ignored his wish, and still helped him up, ignoring the death glare he shot her, but it didn't last long, he was still too focused on Itachi that was now standing in front of him, looking him with an expression of pity. He couldn't stand that.

"Teme no!" Naruto tried to grab his jacket to pull him back, but it was useless, Sasuke was too far gone to realize what he was doing.

"You bastard!" he groaned, and slipped out of the blonde girl's arms, that couldn't hold him back and assaulted his brother again, this time, managing to deliver at least one of his punches hitting Itachi on the cheekbone, bruising his own hand in the process, before Itachi managed to get a hold of his arm, twisting it behind his back, probably breaking it, and slammed him on the floor, his chin hitting on concrete, his unwounded arm failing to stop his fall.

It had been fast, and Sasuke was too ashamed to even look up, his pride hurt.

Itachi stopped in front of him, and crouched down, pulling him up from his hair, ignoring the cries of protest, and the girl screaming at him to stop.

"You wish to defeat me, you better learn how to fight" Itachi still didn't show any emotion, and Sasuke finally met his eyes, his anger still hadn't dissipated.

"I will come back for you… Itachi. I will show you, I will drag you back to Konoha and see that you rot in jail for what you did to Shisui"

Itachi abruptly let go of his hair, making his face hit the ground again, his upper lip splitting at the contact with the floor.

"There are some things you better not go against Sasuke. You might not like what you find"

"I think you did enough damage for tonight, Itachi, it's better if you go now"

Haku finally stepped up, and Naruko glared wondering why the man hadn't stopped the older Uchiha before, he could have avoided for Sasuke to get hurt if he had.

The older Uchiha didn't say anything else, and didn't even look back at Haku and Naruko, making a quick exit, with a last thought of getting some ice, to put on the nasty bruise on his face, and maybe he would find Karin, he had too much tension built up, he could use some release.

The man let out a sigh and turned around to see the blonde crouching down.

"Sasuke… " Naruko felt an incredible bout of anger and compassion at seeing her best friend all battered and bruised on the floor.

"Here, let's ease him up, and put him on a chair" the brown haired man offered, looking down at the poor boy. Naruko nodded and grabbed Sasuke's side while Haku took Sasuke's good arm, and wound it around his neck, helping him stand, helping him to sit on a chair, resting his back on the support.

"Poor kid, that was brutal" Haku had already called for Suigetsu to bring him some ice and a cloth.

"I don't need your pity" Sasuke coughed up, managing to get the hands that were still supporting his back of his body, leaning back on the support of the chair, letting out a sigh, ignoring the faint taste of copper coming from the cut on his lip.

"No you damn Teme, but you do need to get that arm looked at, it looks dislocated or something" Naruko gave him a look of concern that the Uchiha chose to ignore.

She felt sorry for her friend. She never did have a family, but it must hurt to be treated in such a way by someone that you used to be close to.

"Here's the ice, what do you need it for-whoa"

Suigetsu walked up to them and looked in question from Haku to Naruko, and then to Sasuke, letting out a soft amused chuckle.

"What the hell happened to you, Uchiha? Did a train run you over?"

Suigetsu and Sasuke knew each other from a summer camp they had both gone to in the past, they hadn't stayed much in contact, but there was a weird sort of friendship between the two. Sasuke had been a little baffled when he had learnt that the Hozuki had ended up in the same place as Naruko.

"Give it here you insensitive moron" Haku took the ice, wrapping it with the cloth and resting it on Sasuke's lip, ignoring the soft hisses coming from the boy.

"I know it's uncomfortable, but necessary if you don't want it to swell like a dinghy"

"That would be cool to see" the albino shot the Uchiha a cocky grin, obviously taking advantage of Sasuke's crestfallen state.

Naruko was the one to react, pulling the Hozuki by the collar of his shirt, pulling him close.

"Shut it Suigetsu, or I will be the one to make your face swell so much it won't look like a dinghy, but a hot air balloon, understood? "

"Fine, fine, I didn't even say anything!" he raised his hands in surrender and decided to rush back into the kitchen, to check on Juugo, it was too quiet in there, and with his friend's delicate condition it was better to always keep an eye on him.

"And you better keep it that way" Zabuza appeared in the room and immediately rushed to where Haku and Naruko were, raising a brow as soon as he spotted the beaten Sasuke.

"What happened?" He checked the boy, ignoring his dark glare on him. Sasuke hated all the attention he was getting.

"Well… " Haku started to say, but Zabuza turned to Naruko that was still standing there looking worried.

"I am fine, I don't need any help!" The Uchiha tried to get up, but was immediately pushed back down by the blonde.

"I can see that, why don't you try moving that arm for me?"

Sasuke groaned, trying to lift his limb to prove that he was indeed doing fine, well, at least physically, it was his pride that had been hurt the most. He tried to hide a wince and was disappointed when he couldn't move it like he thought he could.

"Damn…." He muttered, trying to hide his pained expression, but failed, and Zabuza shot him a knowing look

"I thought as much. It's probably dislocated, we need a doctor to look at it"

Sasuke let out a soft grunt, they were fussing too much over him, he wanted to make them stop.

"I don't need to go to a stupid hospital for this" he tried to stand up again, this time succeeding in his task, but he didn't resist long, under the blonde's disapproving glare.

"You stubborn hard headed bastard!" Naruko was thinking about beating him up herself to knock some sense into him, or maybe she should call Sakura and let her deal with the Teme, she would know what to do.

"I know I might regret it, but I'm going to call Sakura, and tell her you're being impossible!"

Sasuke's eyes thinned "You wouldn't" he breathed in a low deadly tone.

"I would, actually I will do it right now!"

She took her phone out, and scrolled through the short list of contacts, until. She Found the pink haired girls number. Just as she was to press call, Sasuke stopped her, grabbing her wrist with a loud "no!"

The blonde grinned and smirked evilly. If there was one thing they had in common, was being afraid of Sakura's wrath.

"So, what do you want to do?"

Sasuke groaned, defeated. His black eyes low staring at the floor, trying to hide away his embarrassment. It was low of him to be defeated by the done.

"I will let you call Sakura but first I want some painkillers, this arm is killing me, and I really can't take the pain and Sakura together, not this time"

Naruko nodded with a big idiotic grin on her lips, happy that her plan had succeeded. Her brain really did work sometimes.

"I knew you would make the right decision!"

Sasuke scowled at her, not even bothering to answer her.

Zabuza and Haku simply stared, dumbfounded by the little twist of events.

"This Sakura must be scary to make you change your mind so easily. Anyway, Naruko, you better go to the pharmacy down the road, we don't have anything like that here, you know the guy there doesn't like us that much"

Zabuza explained, his mouth was covered by the usual bandages but his eyes showed that he was smiling under there.

"Yeah maybe we shouldn't have gone in there to ask for lube that one time" Haku reminisced and Sasuke and Naruko both cackled hearing that. They didn't even want to think what they needed the lube for.

"OK, I believe Sasuke is safe with you guys, so I will be right back, I'll grab my purse as I leave"

She moved to get out of there quickly, smirking at the Uchiha's last words.

"Be quick, dobe"

She knew it wasn't because of the pain in his arm, but because he was uncomfortable with Haku and Zabuza, and honestly she didn't blame him, especially when they mentioned lube or anything remote sexual. She was still a virgin and even thinking about sex made her ears turn red.

She had just stepped out, and walked a couple of meters, when she heard the rumbling of a motorbike behind her, that woke her up from her thoughts. She was glad for that because they were going in a direction she didn't like, thanks to that pervert of Haku.

The blonde girl turned around and made an astonished face as soon as she saw who it was. She honestly thought he would disappear after what had happened in the bar.

Itachi was sitting there, talking with some tall guy, who was standing next to the rumbling vehicle. The Uchiha looked relaxed as he listened to the other guy, smoking a cigarette, looking like nothing had just happened.

She felt an incredible turmoil inside her, and she wanted to go there and beat him up so badly and ruin that pretty face , but she knew she might not be taken seriously, but deep down, she really wanted to see him hurt.

"Hey you, Uchiha!" she was furious, and she stomped towards him, bag clutched at her side, face scrunched up in anger.

Said man turned to look at her, and gave her an unimpressed look, he probably had recognized her from back at Kubikiriocho, or maybe he was just wondering what was wrong with her, it was really difficult to tell by his nonexistent expression.

"Is this little lady mad at you Itachi? What did you do to her? She is such a cute little thing"

The man smirked, and Naruko felt chills up her spine from the way he was looking at her.

"Ugh… disgusting" she thought, reminded of the way she was dressed, and annoyed that he felt entitled to Leer at her as if she was a piece of meat, and not a human being. Man like that made her mad. But she wasn't there to deal with him, but with the other guy, that luckily, unlike the other man, seemed to be more educated, and wasn't so openly checking her out, his eyes focused on her face.

"Do you know how much you have hurt Sasuke? You piece of shit, he needed therapy after you left, and it took him a long time to get out of his sulky depression and finally live again, what you did tonight will make him slip back into the dark place you pushed him into before!"

She pointed a finger at him, tears threatening to slip out of her eyes, but she was able to swallow them back, focusing on how much she hated the black haired apathetic man in front of her.

"You damn jerk! You don't even know what to say to defend yourself!"

The man with Itachi squinted his already small eyes, and glared at her.

"How dare you talk like this to him you little bit-"

"Kisame, shut up" Itachi finally spoke up, his eyes on his almost finished cigarette. He threw it to the ground stepping on it. His calmness was truly unnerving the girl, her hands were itching to strangle him.

"Are you his girlfriend?" the question made both hers and Kisame's eyebrows shot up. What the hell did it matter to him?

"No! I'm his best friend, and I care for him!"unlike you! She wanted to add, but knew better than to let her tongue run freely, she had already said too much, Sasuke would probably kill her if he found out.

Itachi eyed her, a stern look on his face now.

"Hn, you have courage, to come here and confront me, you must really care for my foolish brother"

It was the longest she had ever heard him speak, and his voice was something that hit her, it sounded familiar, and it made her wonder where she had already heard it. But that wasn't the point now, she had to defend her friend from his brother's insults.

"Sasuke is not a fool! You are the only fool here, you damn bastard! I will make you pay one day for what you did to him! I really hope they arrest you, I will personally come and visit you just for the satisfaction of seeing you rot in there! And now, excuse me I really have more important things to do"

She turned on her heels and she barely heard the guy, Kisame, chuckle, before Itachi called her back, and she turned again to face him with an annoyed look. She didn't care what comeback he had come up with, or if he had something to say to defend himself, after all, the words of a traitorous bastard were important to her, she had confronted him only because of Sasuke. What she didn't expect was the soft smile he gave her, and that it weirdly made her heart skip a beat.

"Hn, those scars have healed beautifully , I knew they would"

Her eyes widened, and he smirked before putting on a helmet that covered his eyes, and left in a rush, Kisame cursing, annoyed that he had been left behind.

Naruko still in shock, touched her scarred cheek, finally realizing why his voice had been so damn familiar. He was the officer that had rescued her, that had stayed close to her, reassuring her that she would heal and forget the bad experience, telling her that her wounds would never take out her beauty.

"It… it can't be…" she muttered softly her hands tracing the lines that had been inflicted on her skin by a crazy and twisted mind.

She couldn't believe that the kind and gentle soul that had helped her that terrible night, had become a rogue agent, and there was nothing left of the man she had so undeniably crushed on, for all those years.

"What happened to you?" she couldn't help but wonder. She knew she had a bit of a weakness for broken people, being one herself, but she could not avoid thinking that something must have happened to change him in such a way but, and she knew it was better that way, she might never know.

Author's note:

Sorry for the very long wait, I had some small issues to solve and a bit of a writers block for this chapter, since I wanted it to be the way I imagined it in my head. This is the first dramatic meeting between Itachi and Naruko.

I tried my best, so let me know what you think, I promise I will post next chapter sooner!

Thank you to everyone supporting me and this story, I really appreciate it!

Darkshadows92


	6. Chapter 6

**09I don't own Naruto, or anything related to it, unfortunately.**

 **Chapter 6**

 **Warning, there's a lemon in this chapter!**

Itachi stopped his motorbike in front of a rundown building situated a few blocks away from Kubikiriocho. He took his helmet off, tucking it under his arm and against his hip, and with the other free hand, detangled his hair, pushing the lose strands that had slipped out of the low ponytail behind his ear.

He put the keys in his pocket and lit another cigarette as he headed towards the premise that looked like it could crumble on itself any moment, his bad shape was evident even in the dark, barely lit up by a useless street light.

The Uchiha didn't pay any mind to it, he was used to the area, nothing could disturb him anymore, he had seen any sort of shit in the years he had spent in the worst side of Konoha.

He eyed the woman standing at the side of the road, dressed with clothes that barely covered her body, her long wild red hair flowed wildly , like flames in the dark, her red eyes, free of the glasses she usually wore, nervously scanned the area, as she hugged herself with her arms to repair herself from the cold night breeze. She seemed to relax when she spotted Itachi, her face settling in a neutral expression as she focused on him.

Without saying a word to the girl, he opened the door of the building and got in, climbing the few steps that lead to his apartment, aware that the girl was right behind him now.

She had probably been waiting for him for a while now, judging by the way she was shivering, but he just couldn't get himself to care, his mind overwhelmed by a flurry of thoughts, and feelings that he just couldn't get out of his mind.

It had been a normal uneventful evening, he and the rest of the gang had a meeting about some bull shit that Deidara had done, and that had almost got his ass arrested. Nothing unusual, they were used to the blond's diva attitude, and after the meeting he and Kisame had decided to go and grab a drink as usual, at Kubikiriocho.

At least, that's what he had thought until he had met his brother again after almost four years of not seeing him.

Itachi had to admit that it hadn't been easy to keep his cold demeanor, he hadn't expected to meet him in Kubikiriocho of all places, the Sasuke he used to know would never even dare to step a foot in such a degraded place, yet, there he was, all grown up, and, as Itachi had expected, full of hatred towards him.

It had hit him harder than he thought it would. He had tried his best to suppress any sort of feeling in his time as a criminal, it was something he had to do if he wanted to survive, it was one of the first things Pain had taught him when he had joined Akatsuki, and the only thing that had allowed him to remain sane for all that time.

But, seeing Sasuke again, after all those years and in such a casual way, well, it was something he hadn't been prepared for. It had almost made him his cold and stoic mask as he realized that Sasuke wasn't the young boy he had left behind anymore. The one that used to adore him, that used to beg him for some of his time. He wasn't the boy he could bribe with a promise and a poke on his forehead anymore. Sasuke was a young man now, almost taller than he was, his heart full of bitterness towards the older brother he used to love so much. Sasuke didn't look at him with eyes full of admiration as he used to when he was a child, when he would get ready for work and Sasuke would watch him as he wore his spotless uniform and head for work with Shisui, and would run to their mother declaring that he wanted to be exactly like Itachi when he grew up. Well, he guessed that wasn't the case anymore, if anything, Sasuke wouldn't want to be anything like him now.

He walked inside the small apartment he shared with Kisame, and threw his keys somewhere on the table, not even checking if they actually landed on the wooden surface or somewhere on the floor, he would look for them later, whenever that would be.

Without a word to the girl, that was now sitting on his sofa, obviously waiting for him, took his leather jacket off throwing it on a chair, slowly making his way to the fridge. He opened it and frowned at the desolation inside of it, except for a few cans of beer, courtesy of Kisame, and a carton of milk, there wasn't much of a choice. He picked up a can, deciding that it was what he really needed, maybe it would help him get his mind off things, there was no doubt that it would be another long sleepless night.

He felt the eyes of the girl on him, and tried to ignore them, as he walked his way to the small couch, where Karin had already made herself comfortable, her long legs crossed, as she stared at him from under her long fake lashes. It unnerved him, he already had a low tolerance for the woman, unless it was to fulfill his physical need, he didn't have any other use for her, but unfortunately she had deluded herself that she was in love with him, and had become clingy to the point that it got on his nerves. He didn't need another nuisance in his life, he had enough in his hands, plus his lifestyle didn't allow him to even think in establishing any type of relationship with a woman, so if it wasn't for a good fuck, he wasn't interested.

He sat on the far end, trying to be as far from her as he could, he could've opted for a chair, but the thought didn't sit well with his tired body, he wanted to relax, he felt the weight of that hellish day on his shoulders.

"You act as if you don't want me here Itachi" Karin finally spoke, her voice irritating, and he already had a terrible headache. He almost wished she could disappear.

The Uchiha closed his eyes, trying to lull his senses and tune her out if he could. From experience he knew she wouldn't leave until she got what she wanted, and he really didn't feel like indulging her in that moment.

"I think I already told you that I would come and look for you if I needed your services" his voice was obviously annoyed, matching the scowl on his face and his distant attitude. He opened the can of beer with a quick movement of his thumb, the sound making his statement sound definitive. He sat back comfortably, crossing one leg over the other, and taking a quick sip of the cold drink, the bitter taste numbing his tongue for a couple of seconds, letting out a long sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He wasn't in the mood to deal with the clingy woman.

"I didn't feel like waiting for you to make up your mind" she said, looking directly at the Uchiha, failing to catch his gaze. She pushed her hair back, trying to muffle her disappointment with a pout.

Honestly, the truth behind her decision was that she had feared she would never see him again, and she couldn't handle that. After all, he had no real reason to seek her out, they weren't in a relationship, plus there were plenty of girls willing to sell themselves to a man like him, he could have any one of them, if only he wanted.

"I already had a shit day, I didn't need the added stress" he added not caring that he might hurt her feelings, when did he even take in consideration people's feelings anyway? He was already nervous enough, and the tension that was boiling inside his body that was slowly consuming him. He needed a distraction. Something that would erase Sasuke's hurt expression from his mind.

"I could help you with that, make you forgive your troubles" she reached a hand out to touch his face but changed her mind, reminding how he hated unnecessary physical contact.

He gave her a quick glance, evaluating what she was so obviously offering him. After all, he could use her as a distraction to alleviate his stress induced headache. He sat up straight, leaving the now half empty can on the floor.

He was enigmatic in his actions, not really giving her much indication of what he wanted her to do, and thar was part of his charm. He was a mystery to her, and she couldn't avoid being lured by it every time. Him putting down his drink, had obviously been a hint for her to catch.

"Let me take care of you then" and she caught the chance he had thrown at her like a dog with a bone.

It was that way between them, he never took the initiative, never made her feel as if he desired her, and more than once, when she was in her own room, in her bed, she had wondered if the rare occasions when he did look for her, were just to satisfy a physiological need. After all he was the infamous Itachi Uchiha, she knew the man was dangerous, and had a reputation of being heartless, other than a wanted criminal, part of the renown Akatsuki gang, it was obvious he didn't love her back, and had told her many times he never would, so she settled for what he was willing to give her, and was happy with that, although she still harbored hope he might return her feelings one day.

" _Because you like to get hurt"_ the voice in the back of her mind suggested, and she knew it was right, but she ignored it as she always did.

Karin, moved on the sofa scooting her body towards him, her head resting his shoulder and one of her hands started to play with his ponytail, fingers lacing in the long strands, basking in their softness as she stared down at his face.

God, he was such a beautiful man, his delicate and aristocratic features, those dark intense eyes… he was truly a sight to behold. Any women would give anything to be in her place. There was only thing that was missing…

"Itachi… why are you so cold with me? We could be good together" she whispered in his ear seductively, some strands of her long hair tickled his face, and her heavy perfume hit him, almost making him feel nauseous. Despite everything, she still wanted for him to return her feelings. She truly was a masochist.

"Foolish woman" it was barely a whisper, but she heard it, and tried to hide her hurt expression. She wasn't stupid, she knew very well what he meant with those words, but decided to ignore the pang in her chest, as she tangled one of her legs with his, as she closed the space between their bodies.

Itachi on the other hand, didn't touch her, he never did, keeping the contact between them as cold as he could. He wasn't so cruel to play along and delude the girl into thinking he might reciprocate her feelings. He was always careful to keep the distance between them, for he could never give her what she wanted, and had made it clear in many occasions. One of the reasons why he could never feel anything for her was that Karin thought he was just like the other men she associated herself with, she had never been interested in really getting to know him, to go underneath the surface of his cold and unbreachable mask. He might have been able to grow some affection for her if she would have, even if she wasn't the woman he wanted by his side, and he wasn't what she really wanted, he was a replacement for the man she really desired, despite her denials that it wasn't true, and that made him feel more disgusted than all the rest, for that man was no other than Sasuke, his own brother. He didn't know when her obsession with his younger brother had started, but Itachi knew it was the very reason he had caught her interest.

He wasn't blind, he knew he and Sasuke looked very much alike, and in her head, she must have made the conclusion that she could replace the younger Uchiha with him . It was so wrong on so many levels, but he had been selfish, not caring about the woman's feelings, but only about his own pleasure, and that had taken them to the point where they were now. A pointless relationship based on sex.

Had he really stooped so low? Where was the Itachi that had valued love and affection so much? Shisui would be so disappointed if he could see him now.

One of her hands, wondered to his chest, stroking the soft muscles under his thin shirt, pulling him out of his daze, when they brushed under the material touching his skin directly, they were cold at the contact and he immediately caught her wrist, stopping their course towards his lower abdomen. He hated physical contact, she was already crossing too many boundaries to for his liking.

"Don't resist, I know you want it" her voice was laced with lust it would have probably excited any other man, but it did nothing to Itachi.

"Stop it right now" he snarled, face scrunched up in annoyance, but still not really doing much to get her off him, it was just like him, he didn't like when she tried to seduce him. It was just a waste of his time.

"Are you really sure that's what you want?" she swooped down trying to capture his lips but he moved his head to the side to avoid the contact.

Karin smiled sadly at the gesture, but didn't show her disappointment. There was an unspoken rule of no kissing between them. Itachi had never allowed her to touch his lips. Every contact between them was always cold and distant, the contrary of what such an intimate act should be, but she made the best of it, convinced that having just a little piece of him, was better than having nothing.

She lowered her hands to fumble with the man's belt, almost sure of her success when he didn't move to stop her like he had done a couple of minutes later, but instead she felt his dark eyes watching her, although they didn't hold any hint of emotion in them, it pleased her to no end that they were concentrated on her. She wanted all the attention he was willing to give her, and she almost smirked in triumph when she managed to open his jeans completely, she rolled up his shirt a little bit, admiring the lines and planes of his low abdomen, the pale skin rousing a strong desire of tracing that soft, pale skin with her hands and mouth.

Itachi, almost automatically, as if he had read her thoughts, didn't allow her to go any further., his body stiffened and he grabbed her by the shoulders roughly, pulling her off him, flipping her on her back with force, his hands , a low growl escaping his throat as he did so.

"Don't touch me" his voice had a dangerous edge to it, and Karin felt shivers run through her body, although she wasn't sure if it was from fear or pleasure.

She had never seen him like this, his usually expressionless face, was contorted by rage, and his actions mirrored his emotions. He grabbed her wrists, holding onto them so tightly as he pushed her arms above her head, she was sure he would leave bruises.

"Keep your hands there" he warned, he finally let go of her abused arms, and moved to her hips, sliding between their close bodies, rolled her skirt up, revealing her white underwear.

His fingers traced the skin around the waistband hesitantly for a couple of seconds before pulling them down in a quick swift motion, and slipped them down her legs throwing them on the floor.

Without adding another word, he moved again guiding his body to a sitting position, without pulling his pants or underwear off he pulled his aching erection out, stroking it with his fisted hand, allowing a small breath to escape his pursed lips. I I

Karin, couldn't take her eyes off of him as he rolled on a condom on his length, and finally approached her, his body hovering over hers, his hands careful to touch only the heavy fabric of the sofa, hiding his face close to her shoulder, so she couldn't see his expression as he aligned his member with her entrance. Despite the lack of emotion on his part she couldn't stop the loud sound of her heart thumping in her chest, hammering in her ears, and her breath became frantic as he finally pushed inside with no difficulty, she was already soaking wet, but he still waited a few seconds, letting her adjust to his intrusion, buried deep inside of her, reveled in the feeling of that warm heat around his aching member, and his breath hitched, as she tentatively pushed against him, letting him know that she was ready.

He caught the hint immediately and without any warning, snapped his hips upwards, and set a quick and almost punishing pace, that made Karin scream put in pleasure, and start to rock her hips to meet every furious thrust, trying to make him hit her spot with his every move.

He wasn't a very gentle lover, his way of sex was almost angry and desperate as if he used as a chance to let out build up pressure, but she loved the violence and passion that came with it, she had to admit he was one of the best lovers she had, although Itachi's face was always hidden from her during sex, so she couldn't see his expression, she was almost sure he liked it as much as she did, but, she had to admit, she secretly hoped that one day he would open up to her completely and allow her to see him at his most vulnerable and intimate time.

It was hard for her to keep her arms still, she really had to concentrate to remind herself that he didn't want her to touch him, when the only thing she wanted to do was reach out and run her hands along his hot body, or his long silky hair, and, she didn't want to face the realization that he would probably never give her what she wanted. She was a prostitute after all, it's not like she deserved love anyway, her eyes watered at the thought, and Itachi sped up his movements, and she held back a sob as he hit her sweet spot dead on again, everything became more frantic, her moans, got louder, as she tried hard to bite back the tears as she felt she was about to reach her peak.

3Itachi raised his head at that moment, for the first time he finally met her eyes, his hand slipping on her mouth hushing her screams and something roused in her at that unexpected action, and she pushed the upper part of her body up, throwing her arms around his neck, without thinking, and pulled his head down for a kiss, it turned out more as a quick brush of lips, since he didn't reciprocate the gesture, and it barely lasted a few seconds, but it was enough to make her head spin.

His lips were so soft and warm, she wished she could have the privilege to taste them whenever she wanted, but she was already taking a risk, she was aware of that as she felt his body stiffen his movements stopping abruptly, and she wanted to sob, she was so damn close…

He lifted himself up, supporting himself with his elbows, his dark orbs staring down at her and his expression was blank as always, so it was hard for her to tell what was really crossing his mind. She was already regretting her brash action, wishing she could go back in time and control her impulses.

Itachi didn't say anything, after staring at her for a couple of seconds, looking like he was deciding something, finally slid out of her body, and she let out a soft hiss at the empty feeling, and with red eyes full of tears, watched helplessly as he walked away, locking himself in the small bathroom.

Karin was left alone on the ravaged couch, the silence was starting to get too heavy for her, and quietly, she picked up her clothes trying to swallow down the lump in her throat. It got harder to do so, when Itachi finally made his appearance again and didn't utter a word, making her feel awkward and out of place.

She dressed quickly, ignoring the dark haired man, and he seemed to return the favor, as he wondered around the kitchen, grabbing another can of beer from the fridge and sat on a chair in total silence lighting up a cigarette watching the smoke flutter towards the ceiling in silence, resting one of his elbows on the hard wood of the table.

It stayed like that for a couple of minutes, Itachi politely waiting for her to be decent, before turning his dark gaze on her, slightly parting his lips to let out a puff of smoke.

She stared back at him with longing, he was shirtless now, his pale sculptured chest had a weird yellowish hue under the dim light of the kitchen, and his hair was down and slightly damp, framing his perfect face.

The girl was leering at him, despite the awkward situation she couldn't avoid in doing so.

"Whatever this is between us, it has to stop" He finally spoke, and she found that maybe, it was best if he hadn't, because she felt her heart break at the harsh words. His tone had been flat and monotonous as always, she couldn't recall a time when he ever did sound something different, exactly like his face. His expression hadn't even changed , and he had gone back to stare at the smoke as if it was more interesting than she was.

Karin knew she really shouldn't be surprised. He was Itachi Uchiha after all, he wasn't known for being a cold blooded criminal for nothing. He kept a detached attitude towards people as he did towards his business, everything was on the same level to him.

"What if I don't agree" she felt spiteful all of a sudden. If Itachi wanted to break whatever they had, she wouldn't accept it without a fight.

Itachi though, didn't falter, he was sort of expecting it.

"You are trying to hold on to something that is not real. You know I don't return your feelings, and never will. Do with it what you want, I suggest you to leave now, I would like to rest" he turned off the cigarette, and stood, wishing nothing more than to seclude himself into his room and get some sleep. He had a terrible headache, and wanted nothing more than to forgive that awful evening.

Karin was left alone, in tears. In the end, she knew it would turn out that way. And she felt terribly alone.

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"How did you dislocate an arm on your own? It's almost impossible! And that black eye? Sasuke you seriously look like you got into a fight with someone" Sakura pressed the bag of ice on his eye a little harder, and the Uchiha softly hissed, but still decided not to speak, and simply looked the other way, ignoring his girlfriend's worried gaze, it made him feel bad to see the hurt in her eyes as he did so, and tried to avoid her gaze.

Naruko, who had kindly offered her living room as infirmary, glared at her black haired friend, but he had asked her to hide the truth from the pink haired girl, not wanting to worry her more than necessary. To Naruko it was silly, after all it was obvious he had gotten into a fight, Sakura wasn't an idiot, lying would only worsen things.

"I told you I feel from the stupid stool! What more explanation do I have to give you?" he snatched the ice package away from her, and stomped off, locking himself in Naruko's bedroom. Kurama slightly woke from his slumber at the harsh slamming of the door, and Naruko sighed, stroking Sakura's shoulder trying to soothe the shocked girl.

It was late, almost three in the morning when Naruko had ended her shift and had heard her two best friends fighting behind the locked door of her apartment. Things hadn't gotten better although her presence had stopped the fighting, the air was heavy, and she felt like she could cut the tension with a knife.

"It's not your fault, he's just in a bad mood" Naruko sighed as she eyed the closed door of her bedroom. She knew it would take time for her best friend to get over what had happened that evening, but, she still thought Sakura should know what had really happened, and Sasuke had to be the one to tell her.

"Fell from a stool! He really thinks I would believe that?" she muttered in anger and raised her head giving Naruko a suspicious glare. The blonde must have caught that, because she suddenly got very nervous.

"I am starving! Why don't we go to the kitchen and make some tea, maybe he will calm down and get out if his hole" she wanted to make Sakura feel a little bit better, so she could get over what had happened with the stubborn mule head in the other room, and it was also a poor attempt to depict the pink haired girl, because Naruko knew Sakura was aware that she was therr when Sasuke got hurt, so that she surely knew what had truly happened.

"Naruko, you wouldn't lie to me, right? " Sakura was dead serious as she spoke, and looked directly into the blonde's blue eyes, who stared back in question, trying to keep a confused façade.

"You knew I would never lie to you, Sakura - chan! But I really don't know what happened"

Sakura glared at her, leaning her face on her hand, and Naruko gulped.

"I know Sasuke doesn't want you to tell me the truth" she kept going, and Naruko, swallowed, finally grasping what Sakura was hinting at. She shouldn't be surprised, Naruko was not a very good secret keeper, and Sakura was too smart for her own good.

"I saw Sasuke act this way only in one occasion, and because of one specific person. I almost lost him that time. He withdrew himself from all of us and his family it was hard getting him back. I know you weren't there last time…Naruko, did you two meet Itachi tonight?"

Naruko's eyes widened at the direct question. She should have known that the girl would figure it out, and for a minute she cursed her expressive face. Sasuke would kill her for making it so obvious.

"I should have known, it's always him. He always hurts Sasuke, every time they meet." Her hands balled into fists, and tears of rage were threatening to fall from her green eyes. Naruko could only admire Sakura's devotion towards Sasuke, and mentally noted to kick the Uchiha's ass once he got out from _her_ bedroom, for the way he had treated his girlfriend. She didn't deserve his assholish attitude.

"I won't let him get close to Sasuke anymore, next time I see him I will give him the Uzumaki treatment and beat his sorry ass! I promise you this! And if Sasuke tries to get away from his friends and loved ones again I will beat his sorry ass too!"

Sakura finally smiled through her tears at the blonde hothead , and shook her head at the blonde's words.

"I don't want you getting into trouble, Naruko, you can be too impulsive some times"

"Don't worry Sakura, I won't beat them up too badly. I won't ruin your dear Sasuke-kun's pretty face"

Sakura couldn't contain herself, and slapped a hand on her forehead as she erupted in a fit of laughs at Naruko's antics. She was grateful to the blonde for bringing her spirit's up.

"Naruko, you are a true force of nature" she giggled with newfound humor, and dried the tears from her eyes with her jacket's sleeve.

The blonde tilted her head to the side, a wide grin on her face as she gave her friends the thumbs up, happy to see her finally smile.

"I will hold you onto that promise, Naruko."

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Suigetsu was walking home, Juugo a few feet behind him, totally silent as he listened to the albino, who was excitedly recalling the night's events.

"The expression on Uchiha's face! Man, I wish I could have taken a picture! Itachi really went heavy on him, but man, that prick deserved it! Don't you agree Juugo?" he looked behind him, and huffed when he noticed that the other had stopped to feed a stray cat.

"Man, why do we always have to go through the same shit! That damn thing is going to follow us home now! We can't afford to keep him too! "

He muttered in annoyance. Juugo was a very peculiar person, he suffered from a bipolar disorder that bordered to schizophrenia, that sometimes could cause dangerous and violent psychotic attacks.

The man ignored Suigetsu's complaining, and took the small feline in his broad arms, making the kitten look even smaller in them, a gentle smile on his face.

"He must have been abandoned, I will take him home"

The white haired teen looked at him with dread all over his face. He knew his friend had some sort of obsession, but he didn't want animals running around his flat.

"You're taking it home?" he squeaked, slapping a head on his forehead, the other one on his hip, in a pose of pure desperation. He knew it was useless to even try and discuss with his friend, the decision had already been made after all, and Juugo was already on his merry way with the kitten, completely ignoring Suigetsu, who could only pout and mutter something under his breath as he followed the older man, and they walked in silence till they reached their building, and both of them were surprised as they noticed a familiar figure sitting on the steps, hunched over herself her red hair covering her face, obviously waiting for them.

Juugo and Suigetsu looked at each other in question, and the younger of the two let out an annoyed sigh and reached the girl, standing close to her, tapping on her head to get her attention.

"Oy hag, what are you doing here?" he kneeled in front of her, tilting his head in curiosity and rolled his eyes, when he heard a sob. He put a finger on his lips and hummed softly.

"Hmmm… let me guess, Uchiha again?"

The sobs only got louder and he noticed her shoulders shaking and he groaned at that, understanding that he had hit the nail directly on the head, but he had a little advantage, since it wasn't the first time she cried for a stupid Uchiha.

Juugo, approached the two, aware that Suigetsu lacked the sensibility to deal pwith the situation, and sat next to the girl, resting the kitten on his lap so that he could have his arms free to comfort the girl in case of need.

"Karin, do you want to tell us what happened?"

The girl raised her head, and sniffled, drying her tears with the sleeve of her jacket.

"Itachi…he…he ended things between us" she cried, voice broken by another sob, and new tears formed at the bottom of her eyes, fogging her eyes vision. She hid her head against her knees, she hated to be seen while she cried, although Juugo and Suigetsu were used to it by now. They were the ones she always ran to when she needed comfort. Despite her rocky relationship with the albino, she did care for them, as they for her.

"You weren't even in a real relationship with the guy"

Suigetsu muttered bluntly, and huffed as he sat on the girl's other side glaring at the other two, earning a look of disapproval from Juugo, and he simply shrugged it off. He had never liked Karin's profession, and liked it even less when she had started to have encounters with Itachi Uchiha of all people. It had been the start of a lot of arguments between the two of them.

Suigetsu wasn't the kindest of people, always saying whatever crossed his mind with no care. He didn't always get away with it though.

"Ouch that hurt you witch! "he patted his head where Karin had slapped him hard, and Juugo simply sighed at the two not wasting any words on them.

"It was meant to hurt, you damn idiot!". She croaked, making an effort trying to control her voice.

"So you hit me because you can't accept the truth, very mature" the white haired teen muttered, rolling his eyes hardly and leaned his face on his hand in an annoyed fashion. Karin glared back at him, clearly offended.

"I can't accept the truth?"

"Uchiha doesn't give a rat's ass about you, time you deal with it" he added bluntly, side glancing at the red head that was visibly to the verge of crying, her whole body shaking. He sighed again, for what was the umpteenth time that night, but didn't regret his words. They were the truth, whether she liked it or not. What really shocked him though, was Juugo's nod of approval.

"Suigetsu is right, though I don't really care for his choice of words" the orange haired man crossed his arms on his chest, letting out a breath, and leaning his back against the cold cement. Suigetsu was staring at the other with his magenta colored eyes wide open , shocked that for once, he was agreeing with him. Karin looked bothered by their words, her red eyes wondered from one to the other, and it seemed like she was thinking hardly about something.

"So, you both think that I'm unlovable? Is that what it is?" she was trying to hold back her sobs with a sad smile as she spoke, crossing her legs and hiding her face between them again.

Suigetsu stiffened at her words, his hands balling into fists in anger. Had Itachi hurt that much? Was he so damn important to her, the heartless bastard… what did he even do to gain her affections? Nothing, necause that was how Karin was. She was in such a need for love that she always looked for it in the worst of places, blind to notice the person who really cared for her, even if he never showed it, Suigetsu cared for her more than he ever showed, and it always made his blood boil to see her with someone who would only go ahead and use her as if she was an object.

"What does that have to do with anything? Uchiha is a bastard, a worthless bastard that doesn't deserve you! He never cared for you, he even ignores you if he has no use for you! That doesn't make you unlovable though! It just makes him a bastard, a bastard who isn't able nor willing to appreciate the wonderful person you are! Who uses your body for his pleasure, and that's it! That's not love to me, and it will never be, and if you don't whadant to accept that, well, I don't not what else to say except that I had enough of your whining, I'm going to bed"

He stood up abruptly, and left with a loud snort, leaving his two shocked friends behind. Well, only Karin was truly shocked, Juugo was aware of Suigetsu's repressed feelings for the red head, and had predicted that something like this might happen one day. Karin always came to them to complain about her 'job' and lately about Itachi, and the albino always failed to hide his bothered and hurt expression that even Haku had understood the boy's feelings. The only person that was blind to them was Karin herself.

The older man sighed, and rested a hand above his mouth taking a few minutes to appreciate the night's quiet until he could, Karin beside him, was still speechless, and he wound up an arm around her shoulders in comfort.

"Forgive him, he gets carried away sometimes, but you should know, he really does care about you, and so do I, you can come to us whenever you need it"

Karin's breath hitched at the words, and she only wanted to cry more, but didn't have the strength to. They were so kind to her…. She didn't deserve friends like them.

"Thank you Juugo. Can I stay with you guys tonight?, I don't feel like going back to Orochimaru" she couldn't face him, not after that night. He would probably yell at her for going back with an empty pocket. She had always refused money from Itachi, and Orochimaru didn't like her messing around with men if she wouldn't earn anything, and that would usually result in a beating.

"Of course

"You don't think Suigetsu will mind?"

"If he does, you can always hit him on the head as usual"

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 **Author's note:**

 **I kmow I'm super super late with this chapter! But, I have to admit, it was truly hard for me to write, I had a certain situation in mind for it, and I wanted it to be exactly like I pictured it, and I admit that it was the hardest one I ever wrote. The lemon was a first for me, so I don't know if it's any goood, I'm not that confident about it, but I hope I will get better with time.**

 **Itachi, so he might come off as a bastard or even worse here, but that's how I want you to picture him, so if those are the feelings you get as you read the chapter, I know I am doing this right.**

 **Karin is another complicated character for me, and while I don't hate her, I don't really intend to make her very likeable here, at least for now.**

 **So, as usual, I thank everyone that has added the story to their alert list, to those who have reviewed! A big thank you goes to all of you!**

 **See you next chapter!**

 **Till then, Ciao!**

 **Darkshadows92**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"We're sorry the number you tried to reach might be turned off or not available at the moment-"

"Dammit Sasuke"

Naruko slammed the phone on her rickety old table, making it shake from the force she had used, her frustration growing, because of the Uchiha's lack of response. It had been a week since she had last seen him or even talked to him, exactly from the night of the infamous fight with his bastard brother. After Sakura had medicated him and scolded him for hiding the truth from her, they had brought him home, where Naruko had made him promise to call them the next day to let them know how he was doing, he had begrudgingly accepted with his usual awful manners, leaving them there without a word.

At first, neither she or Sakura had paid any mind to it, he was always grumpy and kind of distant, it was really nothing new, but, the next day,they didn't hear from him at all, and by the time Naruko had to go to work, they had both tried to call him several times, and he hadn't picked once. This had been going on for a week now and the only reason Naruko hadn't gone to his house to kick his ass for his behavior was Sakura. The pink haired girl was convinced that Sasuke only needed time to process everything, and to nurture his wounded pride. Naruko didn't agree, obviously, but begrudgingly respected her wishes, so she hadn't gone to his house to kick his butt for making everybody worry as she would have liked to do, and instead, tortured herself with stupid worthless phonecalls.

"This is ridiculous" she muttered, throwing the stupid device in her purse, and kneeling to grab Kurama's water bowl and put it under the tap to fill it, the big red cat rubbing against her legs, following her as she put the bowl down and headed towards the fridge to grab some leftover chicken she had got from the hospital cafeteria the other day at her other job.

"I don't have time for cuddles Kurama, I gotta go to work, be good okay?" she whispered, as she kneeled again to put the food on the floor next to the water, and stroked him on the head, between the ears softly, his big yellow eyes only focused on the dish before him, ignoring the girl, as usual. Naruko pulled herself up with a sigh and grabbed her purse, shooting one last glance at the cat, before closing the door behind her, rolling her eyes at his indifference towards her, it was nothing new, she was used to it.

"Stupid furball, see you later"

The walk to Kubikiriocho only lasted two minutes, and as soon as she walked in from the backdoor, that lead directly to the kitchen, she found Juugo and Suigetsu, who were already at work. The first slicing some vegetables, while the white haired teen washed some dishes, both raised their head in greeting as she walked in, Juugo even smiled at her, well almost,but still, it was a progress,for the usually sulky chef.

"hey guys, how you're doing?" she asked casually, as she put her stuff down in the little cabinet that was set in an angle next ro the kitchen, and pulling out her tiny black apron, tying it behind her back.

"Ok I guess, another day in this shithole" Suigetsu answered, his cheerful voice contrasting with his words made Naruko laugh, she was used to his sarcasm by now.

"Shut up idiot, do you want Haku to hear you?" Juugo hushed him, as he turned around towards the stove to toss something in a pan, and sent a disapproving look at the other male, who simply shrugged in his typical careless way.

As if called, the brown haired man walked into the room with two trays full of dishes, and dropped them to the sink next to sink, for Suigetsu to wash, and suddenly the atmosphere changed, almost as if it had become cold all of a sudden,and Naruko even got shivers, but maybe it was just because of Haku's expression. It was terrifying.

The teen paled it would take him a good half an hour to finish all those dishes, he wondered if Haku had wandered all over the neighborhood to collect dishes just to make him suffer, because it sure looked that way. Suigetsu wouldn't be surprised if he had, the man was a sadist, and the smug smile on his face had a sinister tinge to it.

"I just wanted to remind you, that the dishwasher is broken, you might want to watch your mouth" he smirked as he said that, enjoying the younger man's distress. Suigetsu's face had drained of all colors, and his air of confidence had vanished. Juugo rolled his eyes at hin again, and Naruko couldn't hold in her laughter, as she watched Haku flick his hair behind his back dramatically, looking like a spoiled diva, with his pink glittering tank top and low waist jeans

"Because, you know who will end up washing all the dishes if you don't do you? And, we have lots of customers tonight"

The threat sounded even more evil with the fake gentle smile and sweet coated voice, Haku was evidently pleased with himself, he particularly enjoyed terrifying people. It was unbelievable since he looked like such a gentle and delicate person, his feminine features really did trick you into believing he was the most gentle person alive.

Suigetsu huffed, pouting openly at the older man, he knew that at the end, he was going to end up washing them anyway. He wasn't going to move from that sink all evening.

"Fine fine, whatever you say boss" he complied, he didn't feel like getting into a fight with the man, he knew Haku was a vendictive bastard when he wanted to be. He didn't really feel like spending the rest of the evening scrubbing pot and pans.

Haku nodded at that, obviously satisfied with the answer, gave a long look around and then looked at his three young employees, and clapped his hands loudly to get their attention.

"Good, now that that's cleared up everybody back to work! This place won't run itself."

The three, immediately scurried back to work, Suigetsu taking care of the dishes, Juugo checking that nothing was burning, controlling the various dishes and moving pans quickly with loud banging noises, that made Suigetsu turn around to glare at him, but didn't dare to say anything. Juugo always made a mess while he worked, they were all used to it.

Naruko, scrambled to her feet, with a quick 'Sure thing boss!' was out the door so fast, Haku actually wondered of she had surpassed the speed of light, with how much energy the girl had, it might actually be possible.

"These kids are going to be the death of me" he murmured glumly. He might be just a few years older than them, but man, he couldn't keep up with them, especially with the little thunderbolt in the other room.

"Don't worry boss! We'll pay for your funeral!"

Suigetsu didn't even have time to grin, a wet rag hit him right on his face.

It was around midnight, Naruko was more than halfway through her shift and her legs were starting to bother her a little bit, she was glad things had quieted down, and that she could just stop for a few seconds to check her phone, and wasn't surprised to see there was no answer from Sasuke.

By now it shouldn't be much of a shock, this had been going on fornthe whole damn week.

It angered her, here she was, concerned as always for him, and the damn…. Teme couldn't pick up his phone.

She understood he had issues, she really did, she knew it was hard for him, especially after what had happened with his brother, but still, couldn't he have a little consideration for the people that really cared for him? Didn't they deserve to know he was alright? Weren't they good enough to support and help him during such a hard time? It really shook her, and she wondered for a split second, how Sakura could tolerate it.

Naruko knew she would never be able to be as understanding and supportive as her friend was. Naruko was the kind of person who wanted to help by being there, by making sure and seeing with her own eyes how the person was doing. The distance and the not knowing how the damn Uchiha was doing for real, was killing her.

With a long sigh, she revolved her attention to her job and cleaned up some tables with a wet rag, taking some glasses from each of them, and took them in the kitchen where Juugo and Suigetsu were busy cleaning up listening to some rock music, they didn't even notice her walk in, and she smiled rolling her eyes at the two boys. At least they looked happy.

She walked back into the hall area, and looked around. Most of the people had left, and there were only a few customers who were chatting amongst each other on the far end of the room, and for the moment they seemed like they didn't need anything else and Haku had disappeared in the office thirty minutes ago, and she was sure he wasn't going to come out for another thirty. Zabuza was there, and she didn't even want to imagine what those two could be doing in there. Once she had caught Haku walking out with his hair all ruffled up and his shirt ripped up. They had made a quiet agreement to never talk about it, but she wasn't stupid, she lived underneath them after all, and the walls weren't that thick.

Taking advantage of the newfound peace, she practically threw herself on a chair near the counter, leaning her back against it she relaxed a little bit, and she had to fight to keep her eyes from closing, as she realized how exhausted she felt, her eyelids were heavy and she figured it wouldn't hurt if she gave in and closed her eyes to rest for a few seconds.

It felt like she had slept for ages, when she finally opened her eyes, glad she hadn't been caught napping on the job, although Haku fortunately was very tolerant, he would probably not be pleased.

She stretched a little bit, huffing in content, feeling charged and ready to go for other two hours, till closing time.

"Looked like you had a good rest"

She froze at the amused and weirdly familiar deep voice, and immediately turned towards the source of it, and her blue wide eyes met Itachi Uchiha's dark gaze. He was just sitting there on a stool, as if he had been there for a while, his inky hair pulled back with a few strands framing his pale expressionless face, his black leather jacket adding an edge to the look, was rolled up to the sleeves with the zip open revealing another black shirt underneath, exposing his muscular chest and neck.

Naruko had to battle her eyelashes a couple of times trying to hide her stupor in seeing him there so casually, as if he was a normal man hanging out in a bar and not a wanted criminal with a reward hanging on his head.

"You? What are you doing here?" she accused pointing a finger at him, her face twisted in anger, she would have liked to throw him out of there, if only she could.

"Does my presence bother you?"

He watched her with curiosity, his head prodded on one of his hands and the other free one was holding a lit cigarette, and was smirking at her, his black eyes following her in every movement. She had forgotten how good looking the damn bastard was, last time she hadn't had the chance to look at him so closely, and her memory of him didn't make him justice. Still, she hated him with a passion, and she didn't feel like backing down, still feeling as bold as ever.

"What do you think, bastard?" she muttered standing up, reluctantly getting closer to him, still feeling his intense gaze fixed on her, she wondered why he was staring at her so much, did she have something on her face? She checked it spying on the glass behind her, it didn't really give her a clear vision but it was still better than nothing.

"You wound me, I thought you would be overjoyed to see me. Pity"

He shrugged his shoulders, looking anything but sorry, and took another breath of smoke, making Naruko's left eye twitch. She hated the stench of smoke, and she hated him too, her blood was boiling as she avoided to look at that smug expression,who the hell did he think he was? Why would she even be happy to see him after what he had done to Sasuke? Did he have a short term memory problem or something?

"Don't you know it's not allowed to smoke in here?" she said, ignoring his words, leaning across the counter to take the offending thing from his fingers throwing it in the small sink and turning the tap on to turn it off with a disgusted look on her face.

He watched with an amused expression, chuckling to himself, and simply pulled another one out of his jacket and lit it with a lighter, letting outa puff of smoke, leaning both his elbows on the wood as he tilted his head to the side, his lips slightly turned up in a small smile. The confidence he had, the way he seemed to think he could get away with anything just bothered her deeply, and she gave him a look that seemed to say, are you kidding me? And, in fact that's what she was thinking.- Is this guy for real? I mean, the nerve he has ! –

He seemed to catch up on that, and his smile turned into a mocking one, as he was daring her to take it away from him again, oerfect eyebrow arched in question as he inhaled the venomous smoke never taking his eyes away from her.

"Is something wrong?" he finally asked, a small cocky smile still present, and she really wished she could slap it off of his face, which was never a good thing, lately she was having too many violent thoughts when it came to Uchiha. Maybe it was the only way to deal with them and their terrible attitude. Especially Itachi's.

"Yes, there's something wrong! I told you before asshole, that it's not allowed to smoke in here" she frowned at his unbothered expression and leaned with her upper body against the counter again and reached out to slip it from his fingers again, but this time, he caught her wrist with his other hand, and she yelped at the gesture, almost tipping, and brushed her fingers on the lit cigarette, risking to burn her fingertips with the damn thing.

"Ah, I wouldn't do that if I were you" he warned her, a ghost of a smile on his lips, as he took another smoke from the offending thing, making her blood boil from both his disrespectful gesture and the fact that he was still holding her arm, clutching at it with an iron grip, and she was sure it was going to bruise. At the thought, something clicked in her, she didn't want any testament of the contact and immediately snatched her hand away in anger.

"Don't touch me you piece of-"

"You're sure you want to finish that sentence?" his voice sounded menacing and sharp as a razor, a sudden change from the former amused one of a few seconds ago, and his eyes somehow held a challenging glint in them, and it almost looked like he was challenging her, curious to see, just how far she would push herself.

Well, Naruko almost smirked, she wasn't one to back down from such a tempting invitation. She straightened her back and without fear, looked straight into the pitch black eyes

"I'm not afraid of a bastard like you"

He held her gaze, and distended his lips, both his hands slipping under his chin to hold his head up, completely unfazed by her insulting sentiment.

"I would measure my words if I were you little girl, you have no idea how much of a bastard I can really be" he might have been calm as he said the words, but his voice was laced with venom, contrasting with his apparent calm expression.

"Don't call me little girl bastard! I have a name you know!" her hands balled into tiny fists, she looked so small and delicate, even with her features contorted in anger, it almost made the Uchiha want to smile.

Almost, but he had to admit, she had courage. No one ever spoke to him like this, except for that idiot of Deidara, but he was an exception simply because Itachi couldn't be bothered and teach him a well deserved lesson.

"Ah, you're a brave one" he paused for a second, feeling the girl's gaze on him, and he felt the impatience in it. He smirked, he would leabe her hanging, it was entertaining to see her get pissed.

"Or maybe you're just…. foolish"

He tilted his head as he spoke, but he was focused on his hands, ignoring the girl's annoyed huff and he figured she didn't look too happy. He had practically insulted her by just stubbornly standing there without really feeling like ordering something. He had walked in only because he had to meet stupid Deidara and Sasori, who as usual were running late.

He had ignored that the girl worked in the scummy place, not that it would have changed anything, even if he knew.

"Who did you just call foolish?" the blonde squeaked, her face scrunched up in disgust. If she didn't have a short skirt on, she might have just climbed the counter to let him have it, her hands had been itching to slap him the whole damn time he had been there.

Itachi stood there obviously unimpressed by her reaction, and shook his head at her, face emotionless as always.

"That explains why you're friends with Sasuke"

Now, that really got to Naruko, her eyes widened and she banged her fists on the hard wood, hurting both of them, but too enraged to care for the sting of pain she felt right into her bones.

"Don't you dare pull Sasuke in this you damn motherfucking backstabbing bastard!" she blurted out in anger, her whole face completely red and her heart beat sped up, uncertain of what would happen now. Would Itachi finally get mad? She hoped he did, she was capable of defending herself, she had taken self defence lessons after what had happened to her, and wasn't afraid of taking him on, pushing aside the fact that he was in all effects, a dangerous criminal, something she shouldn't underestimate, but unfortunately Naruko had a bad control on her impulses, and threw caution out the window when she felt she had to defend a friend. Especially one like Sasuke.

Itachi though, didn't move. He didn't show any signs of being annoyed or bothered by what she had said, actually he wasn't even paying much attention to her, his gaze concentrated on something else.

"hey asshole didn't you hear me?"

Sometimes she was her own worst enemy, and she yelped as soon as his eyes moved to whatever had caught his attention, to focus on her. The black eyes staring at her in such an intense manner, it made her blush. If only she could figure out what he was thinking. He was such an enigmatic person to figure out, even if she had only met him twice, she was sure he was like this with everyone.

"When I found you that night, you were such a scared little defenseless thing…now look at you, challenging someone like me. You might have grown stronger, but you have to mature further. You should know, never pick a fight with someone more experienced than you, little girl, you better learn that fast, if you don't want to get into trouble again"

Naruko winced at his words, a little taken aback, and her fist tightened, her knuckles were almost white. Itachi noticed, and raised a brow at that, interested by the small reaction. Impulsive as she was, he thought she would react strongly. It was interesting, how she seemed to care more about others than her own self. She had almost attacked him when he had mentioned Sasuke.

"This… this is the second time you mention that night…-" her voice was soft, almost confused, but he heard her clearly, and his gaze on her intensified, his eyes slightly narrowing, he opened his mouth as to say something, but no words came out, and Naruko glared at the man, wishing he would just leave instead of tormenting her further. Apparently though, he had made it his personal mission to make her life miserable that evening.

"Oi Uchiha! What ya doing?"

Naruko looked up, glad for the interruption , and spotted a young man, who didn't look much older than Naruko, walked in, he was tall, with long blonde hair that covered half his face, one visible big blue eye (the other covered by his hair) a narrow face and slender body, wearing a jacket similar to Itachi's. He walked up to the Uchiha, swinging an arm around the other's shoulder, an action that didn't seem to please the black haired man, that glared at the offending limb, until the man slipped it off, sitting on a stool next to Itachi, who still looked like was bothered by the other's presence.

The man raised his head, his only visible eye looked straight towards Naruko, who raised a brow in question, at the cocky grin he sent her.

"Well well, look at what we got here." He gave her a disgustingly heated gaze that made her want to throw up everything that she ate all week, and she immediately covered her chest folding her arms against it. His gaze was lingering to much on her low neckline, it made her feel uneasy.

"You're a precious little thing aren't you, what's your name darling?"

The man wiggled his eyebrows at her, and forgot about the frustrated looking Itachi, who was still sitting there, and looked like he was seriously considering murdering the blond, who by the way, was still clinging to him.

Her pushed his arm off his shoulder, making the man stumble and lose his balance for a couple of seconds.

"Hey! What's wrong with you ? Can't you see that I'm trying to start a conversation here with lovely… darling you still have to tell me your name"

Naruko turned her face to the other side making a gagging sound and a loud "Ughh" escaperld from her throat.

"Speak a little louder sweetheart, I didn't quite catch that"

Itachi was trying to ignore the other man's terrible flirting attempt, but they were se terrible even he couldn't tolerate them.

"Deidara, where's Sasori?" he asked dryly, not even glancing at the hyper man, who simply huffed in answer, probably annoyed that he had to take his attention away from Naruko, who was seriously considering escaping from the backdoor. Itachi had been enough for her to deal with, she didn't feel like putting up with a damn pervert, who, was also Itachi's friend.

"That idiot, he said he had better things to do than hang out in a bar. I told him he should come and not be so fucking uptight all the times!"

Itachi tsked at that, Sasori was smarter than he was, at least he thought so at that moment, unlike him, who was unfortunately stuck in the place with him

"I'm leaving"

Sasori would have made that evening slightly more tolerable, but he couldn't stand Deidara's idiocy on his own, it was too much even for a patient man like him. He was almost tempted to stand up and just leave.

"What do you mean? I just got here! You should buy me a drink at least!"

The blond shouted back indignantly, raising his voice at the Uchiha, obviously bringing all the attention towards himself.

"As if I would lower myself so"Itachi answered with a sharp edge to his voice, that for a second reminded everyone who he was. His impassive expression didn't flinch at Deidara screeching, offended by his displays of superiority.

The few customers who were still there were eyeing tje two Akatsuki members with wary glances and sjared preoccupied glances towards each other.

Itachi snorted at the blonde, his menacing glare a good enough of a response for Deidara who simply huffed and slomped down on his stool.

"You're a bastard Uchiha, but no worries, I will just entertain myself with little bomb over here" he winked at her again, and Naruko wished she could just disappear, but she wasn't going to just stand there and be molested by the pushy idiot.

"Ugh, would you just stop! Tell me what you want to drink so I can get rid of you" she finally blurted out, tired of the man trying to hit on her.

"Oh feisty! I like that even more, come over here sweetheart, my lips won't kiss themselves!"

He made disturbing smooching sounds with his lips, and Naruko felt sick, never in her life as shs been molested in such a way. That didn't make her back down, actually it riled her up, and she smirked, lowering her upper body against the counter.

"You know what you can kiss with those disgusting lips?"

She spoke with a sugar coated voice, that made her words sound even more menacing, her big blue eyes opened wide made her look a little bit of a psychopath.

Unfortunately, she didn't have the hoped reaction from the man. He sighed and rested his head on his hands, looking like a lovesick man.

"I think I'm in love with you, I feel like I want to make a sculpture with your beautiful curves"

He smirked as his hungry eye studied every line of her body, mimicking the trail of his vision with his hands although covered by her clothes, they were tight enough that her shape was evident.

Itachi snorted loudly and Naruko was horrified. Was that night a stupid joke? What did she do to deserve such a punishment? First the freaking Uchiha bastard and now this pervert. She just wanted for this night to end, so she could go home and shower to wash away the feeling of disgust that man gave her.

Even Itachi was tired of the other's bullshit. He was almost tempted to drag him out of the fucking place, he was infuriating him that much. It was the reasons why he hated to go out with him on his own in the first place, he flirted with anything that breathed, and Itachi found it fucking annoying. For the first time ever, he really wished Sasori was there with them, he was the only one to put the blond in line, taking advantage on the weak spot Deidara had for the red head. The two were in a sort of weird open relationship, in which Deidara was free to fuck whoever he wanted, men or women, there wasn't much difference for the blonde, he was open with his sexuality, so, provided he didn't get attached permanently to someone else, Sasori didn't care.

Fortunately for the Uchiha, Haku graciously walked in, his face all red, and his shirt looked like it was back to front. His always perfectly smooth hair, were all tied up in a high ponytail. He looked like he had rushed to get there, and Itachi wanted to snort, it was pretty obvious in what activity he had been involbed in, that had caused him to disappear for all that time.. Apparently he was surrounded by peeveets who couldn't keep it in their pants.

"Get a fucking grip on yourself Deidara, for God's sake stop molesting my employees!"

"Sweetheart is fine with it, aren't you dear? Don't be jealous my little Haku, I've got enough space in my heart for both of you" Deidara licked his lips as he set his sight on the feminine man who didn't bat an eyelash at the blond man, instead rolling his eyes in desperation.

"You're disgusting . Tell me what you want to drink and get the hell out of here"

Deidara pouted like a little child

"Always so harsh with me…"

"Give us two beers, then we'll clear the air"

Itachi spoke finally, and Haku looked surprised as his gaze turned towards the raven, who was quietly sitting in his stool.

He probably hadn't even noticed the Uchiha's presence, but was secretly glad of his intrusion, and immediately shooed Naruko to go grab two bottles of beer in the fridge in the back. The girl ran out, relieved to get away, even if just for a few minutes.

"What? Fucking Uchiha, I'm not ready to leave, not with the pretty view around here"

"Hn, we have a meeting with Pain tomorrow. It would be best to get some sleep before it, but suit yourself I could care less about what you do"

"Always so caring…."

Deidara's eyes widened for a brief second, finally taking in what Itachi had said and grunted tiredly, his hands shooting in his hair, he almost gave the impression he wanted to pull them out. Now, that would have been an entertaining thing to watch.

"Fuck… why do we have to go to the stupid thing…I'm a fucking artist! I have more important things to do"

He whined, raising his hands towards the ceiling in a dramatic gesture.

Itachi ignored him as he always did when Deidara. Started to brag about him being an artist, and decided to leave. He had reached his level of tolerance, and he would probably have to face Kisame's ugly face as soon as he got home.

He threw some bills at Haku and stood up taking his beer with him, without adding another word, and with one last glance at the blonde girl, he left, just as quickly as when he had arrived.

Naruko hadn't even realized she was holding hee breath, until the Uchiha disappeared behind the door. Her eyes uncapable of looking away, her blue gaze lost on the retreating figure until it disappeared from her sight. Haku noticed, and curoosluly observed the exchanged in total silence.

"I really hate that guy" Deidara groaned once again, breaking the heavy silence, leaving some change on the counter, anticipating that Itachi wouldn't pay for his drink.

Hell would freeze over before that happened.

"Well goodnight my sweethearts" he gave them one last smirk, and blew a kiss to both of them with a loud smacking sound that made Haku's left eye twitch, sign that he was loosing his patience.

"Fuck off!" the brunette yelled after him, deafening Naruko's left ear, throwing a menacing fist in the air as he did so.

"I will send Zabuza after his ass one day!" he muttered with an annoyed voice folding his arms on his chest.

"Is he always like that?" Naruko asked, and the brunette sighed, moving towards the dining area flopping down on a chair, inviting Naruko to do the same. There was hardly anyone left in the place might as well take advantage of it..

"I'm used to it, he flirts with anything that moves… my previous employees, they left because of him"

"He annoyed them to the point of making them resign?"

She chuckled but something in Haku's expression made her stop immediately.

"Naruko, don't be tricked by his angelic looks. You remember what I said about Akatsuki, right? They are not good people. Next time one of them walks in, come look for me or get Suigetsu or Juugo okay?"

He looked worried and very serious, and she imagined that something must have happened to make him react like that.

Haku sighed, and sat up straight, his fingers drawing circles on the plastic of the table, he looked nervous.

Naruko sighed and let her head drop backwards, leaning with her back on the chair. Her whole body felt tired, and her head was slightly hurting her, but mostly she was still feeling irritated because of the meeting with the Uchiha. It had bothered her when he had jusr walked in, as if nothing had happened, as if he was a regular customer.

"Haku…. Why are these people still out, free to do what they want, instead of rotting in jail where they belong?"

The brunette battled his eyelashes in a stunned gesture. His mouth opening and closing a couple of times as he tried to come up with a honest answer.

"Because…. justice doesn't always work as it should, like many other things in this fucking place"

He admitted, sighing loudly, stretching his arms above his head stifling a yawn.

"It's not fair…"

"Life isn't fair. It's the way it is over here. We can't do a damn thing about it, just do the best we can to stay out of trouble"

He looked over to the girl, who had closed her eyes, her head had dropped on her right shoulder and her arms were lying limp hanging across the chair. A weird position, that made the man smile and shake his head. Figures, only Naruko would be able to fall asleep like that.

"Poor kid, must be tired"

Zabuza entered the room, losing no time to get to Haku leaning his hands on the smaller man's shoulders, massaging them lightly.

Haku groaned in pleasure, enjoying the feell of his boyfriend's rough arms on his tired muscles.

"Yeah… we were talking a second before and the next she concked out"

Zabuza stopped his ministrations, hugging the man from behind, leaving a kiss on his cheek

"So, who made you run away earlier?" he asked with a quiet tone, not wishing to disturb the sleeping girl next to them.

"Fucking Deidara, and he was in good company too. Tsk"

The older man raised a brow at Haku's reaction.

"Who was he with?"

"Uchiha" he spat out with venom coating his voice, as if he had said a bad word.

Zabuza made a surprised sound, more because of the tone the other had usedof.

"Really now, and what is bothering you so much about Uchiha? I thought you liked him. You always say he is the only one who has good manners"

It was true. Amongst all Akatsuki members, Itachi was the odd one out. Reserved and always quiet, the only one who thanked him or talked to him with a little respect. He had actually been very surprised when the usually stoic Uchiha had beaten up his own brother without any remorse.

"I don't know….he has been acting…. Different"

Zabuza didn't say anything, but Haku knew he didn't need too to know what he was thinking.

"I know, I know, I read too much into things and I baby my employees too much" he said with amusement in his voice, and the older man raised a brow in question

"What does that have to do with you babying our employees ?"

"I don't know… I might be just under the impression… maybe it's just me… forget it"

Haku was a good observer when he wanted. And he had noticed the weird glances Itachi had been discreetly sending to Naruko, especially the last one before he had left. He didn't know what it was supposed to mean, or if the two even knew each other, but he hadn't liked what he had seen. Not one bit. Although he didn't want to rush to conclusions, he hadn't stuck around long enough.

"You're crazy you know that?"

"Yes, but that's why you love me. Come on now, get off me, and let's get that poor girl to bed, or she will wake up with a terrible stiff neck tomorrow, and, she's got her morning shift at the hospital, she should get some sleep- what?" he asked, noticing Zabuza's lips curling at the corner.

"Nothing mama Haku, guide the way, I will follow your instructions "

"Idiot" Haku glared at Zabuza, watching as he picked up Naruko from her chair taking her in his arms, under Haku's watchful gaze.

The girl must have been really tired, she had barely moved, and Zabuza had no problem carrying her all the way to her bed, thankfully Haku had a spare key of the apartment, and so he cautiously lowered her onto the soft sheets, Haku delicately took of her shoes, and covered her with another blanket on top so she wouldn't feel cold during the night.

Kurama got out of a corner mewling and started to rub his body against Haku's legs. The man kneeled down and scratched the cat behind the ears smiling softly at it.

"Take good care of our little Naruko mh?" he whispered softly, knowing that Zabuza would probably make fun of him if he caught him talking with the animal.

The feline just watched him with his big yellow eyes and licked one of his paws with indifference., drawing a chuckle from the man.

Zabuza walked behind Haku, hugging him from behind, leaning his head on the man's shoulder, kissing him on the nape of his neck.

"We gotta go, it's time to close up, Suigetsu and Juugo should be finished cleaning up by now" he yawned, relaxing into his boyfriend's embrace.

" let me take care of it, you go home and take a long relaxing bath, and wait for me in bed" he snickered, and Haku sighed at the sound.

"I like that idea" Haku approved, it had been a long time since he had a little time to himself, he was alway busy with the bar, he knew Zabuza felt a little guilty.

"Good, let's get out of here then, I'm starting to feel like a creep, hanging around this place"

"Let's go, but first let me set the alarm for her, knowing her she won't wake up if she doesn't hear it"

Zabuza sighed, and with a low chuckle, left the apartment shaking his head in amusement at his boyfriend's antics.

"Mama Haku, I think it suits you"

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"So, have you got the information I wanted?" It waa dark, and there was nowhere around in that part of town in the middle of the night. A black sedan was parked in a dark area with almost no illumination, and two men were standing in the close proximity of it, careful to not be seen by anybody.

"I collected every trace of evidence I could find, and from what I found, I'm almost sure we are on the right trail"

The older man hummed in approval, as he took the folder with the proof he needed from the hands of the other.

"You've been careful right? You know nobody has to know about this. It would put this mission in even more danger then it is"

"Yes sir. No one suspects anything."

"Good. I need you to stay on top of things. I can't allow any more mistakes on this case. Call me as soon as you have more. And we will meet" he said as he started to walk towards the car, turning his back on the other man, who standed in the dark comfortably as if he was part of it.

"You can trust me, sir"

"I know. It's why I chose you"

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Hello to everyone! Finally I'm back! I know I made you sweat for this last chapter, but unfortunately, there have been a lot of big changes in my life lately, the last one, I just moved to a whole different country, so I was busy with stuff, and I had very little time to dedicate to this story, unfortunately, I really love it, so I assure you It won't be left unfinished, but I might be slow updating, so please just have a little patience with me!

Anyway, I hope you like it and I would really love to hear your opinion! So read and review guys!

Thank you to all the people that have added the story to their alert list and to those that have reviewed! I love you all! Thank you for showing support to story! It makes me want to write more!

Lots of love! Darkshadows92


	8. Chapter 8

0Chapter 8

"You're still working?"

A brown haired man exclaimed as he stood between the doorway of Kakashi's home study, a resigned expression on his face, his big black eyes shining in disapproval and lips twisted into a frown. He was dressed in house clothes, a simple pair of black sweat pants and a military green t shirt, Kakashi noticed, as Tenzo approached the desk, bare feet padding on thebhard wood floor and a fuming cup of black coffee in his hands.

"Here, you look like you need it" he spat, resting his fingers on the desk, as he glared at the grey haired man from under his long lashes.

Everything in his stance indicated that he wasn't happy, and Kakashi could only sigh, his hand carding through his tousled hair, his muscles aching as he stretched up from the chair.

He must look like a mess, he had been working like a maniac these past days, never catching a break, barely sleeping or eating, so immersed in his work, he had barely seen Tenzo at all these days. He felt incredibly guilty for that, he had never thought of himself as a perfect boyfriend, actually he was the furthest thing from it, even before all the shit that had ensued, he had always been relatively distant, Tenzo always the one taking steps towards him, accepting him for who he was, taking care of him with love and patience, but as he stood in front of him with a frown on his face, and evident anger in his eyes, Kakashi started to fear that his brunette boyfriend had finally had enough.

" did I spend the night in here again?" he asked the other man, who rolled his eyes in answer Obviously…

Kaashi sighed, eyeing all the scattered papers on his desk, it would take him a long time to put them in the right order, but he had been on a roll lately, after finding some important pieces of information in the old archives, where documents related to old cases were stored. Kakashi wasn't sure what had given him the idea to look in there , but after Hiruzen had revealed the existence of secret documents left behind from the old mayor, something had sparked in him. He was sure the police forces weren't the only ones after the Kyuby code, and he, along with his team were trying to find anything that would lead them to the lost files.

"Kakashi, you have been spending your nights here for a week now" Tenzo approached the desk, leaning his palms on it, his dark eyes scanning the various files.

"I… I know I'm not acting as a good partner to you-"

Tenzo cut him off with a sharp glare, and the grey haired man's words were cut in his throat.

"How long have we been together Kakashi? You know I used to work in the secret services and we worked together in the special forces! If anything, I would like to help you, I am tired of seeing you dragging yourself around the house"

His voice softened, as did his expression, even if Kakashi could tell that he was still mad, underneath that calm exterior.

He met the black eyes of his partner, lips pulling in a small smile, Tenzo was too kind for his own good. Even pissed at him, he still wanted to take care of him, offering his support, and Kakashi knew that he didn't deserve the gorgeous and kind man in front of him.

"I didn't want to burden you"

The brown haired man sighed, scowling in disapproval, turning around the desk, leaning his hands on his boyfriend's shoulders now, and Kakashi let out a breathe at the contact, making Tenzo smile tenderly.

"I hate seeing you like this. This case is slowly consuming you, and I can't stand the thought of you spending another night like this"

"What did I ever do to deserve you, hn Tenzo?"

Kakashi looked at him from under his lashes, and smiled in delight as he noticed the faintest tint of pink on the younger man's cheeks. He loved how after all these years he could still make the man blush like at the beginning of their relationship. He reached for one of the man's arms, managing to pull him into his lap, winding both his arms around the other man's torso, and resting his nose under the crook of his neck

"Tsk…. Now you want to act all lovey dovey?

Tenzo commented but didn't do anything to push him away, instead reaching for some of the scattered documents, and starting to read them with attention. Kakashi scoffed, kissing the soft skin of his lover's neck, trying to distract him. It had been too long since he had felt the heat and closeness of the other's body.

"And you really want to think about work now?" he whispered in the other man's ear, and he smiled, as he felt the shivers run across his younger lover's body.

"It's all I've been doing lately, so a distraction would be more than welcomed… didn't you want to help me?" Kakashi continued, but Tenzo was determined to not give in to him, one of his hands gripping the edge of thedesk tightly, as he kept reading the document he was holding, ignoring his partner's attempt to seduce him.

"That's not the kind of help I meant"

"Mah Tenzo…. You're so mean" the grey haired man complained, nuzzling his nose on his lover's back.

"Consider this as your punishment."he replied amused, aware that Kakashi couldn't really see his expression grinning at his partner's dejected sigh once he realized Tenzo was being stubborn and not giving into his advances.

His black eyes scanned what was written on the piece of paper he was holding in his hands, and his eyebrows shot up in surprise, his face slowly turning towards Kakashi to look at him in the eyes.

"So, why am I holding Kushina Uzumaki's autopsy papers? Wasn't she the-"

"Yes, she was Minato's wife. She was murdered with her husband on the same night… actually they were hit by the same bullet, it went completely across Minato's stomach and through Kushina's meaning that, whoever pulled the trigger was close, for it to have enough strength to hit them both"

Kakashi explained with a grimace on his face.. He didn't like to recall the crime, he had arrived on the scene along with Hiruzen and Captain Uchiha, and had seen Kushina die in the old mayor's arms, she had been trying to tell them something, but unfortunately she didn't have enougg strength, and had collapsed almost immediately.

"Hmm, so, why are you checking her medical records?" Yamato asked, reading the words written and frowning at the graphic pictures that were attached to the file.

"Well… there was something that didn't look quite right that we overlooked the night of the murder, murder. At the moment we dismissed it as not relevant to the case, but now…. I don't understand why we made such a big mistake"

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with two fingers, his shoulders sagging a little bit under the weight of all those years of investigation.

"What do you mean? Was there something here that could have helped the case?" Tenzo asked, putting down the files, turning to look at his boyfriend's tired face.

Kakashi sighed again, giving a slow nod with his head..

"No one had noticed or could have imagined it at first….but the doctor who examined her body…. Well, he told us that there were some indications that suggested that she had recently given birth. We were all shocked at first, and after he confirmed his theories after a thorough examination, ordered by mayor Sarutobi we were even more, but how could we not be? there was no baby, or nothing that made us think that she had ever been pregnant. Sure, Minato kept his private life completely enclosed from everyone, but, hide a pregnancy… It seemed something completely out of logic for someone like him….We even started to consider abortion or some accident that had lead to a miscarriage but, the doctor was convinced that wasn't the case… "

"We're talking about mayor Namikaze. He surely had connections and if he wanted something to remain top secret, well, there are ways he could have gone about it"

Yamato poined out, scratching his head as he thought about it, and Kakashi considered his boyfriend's words, and felt stupid for never figuring it out on his own.

"You mean, he could have asked someone to keep the files confidential?"

"Well, he was close to Tsunade Senju, and she is one of the best doctors in Konoha, I'm just saying that she could have kept the secret if asked. From my point of view, Minato knew he was in danger, look at all the trouble he went through to make sure no one found out about the Code, or his wife's pregnancy."

"No, Tsunade Senju might have been close to them, but, she was kept in the dark just like we all were, she hadn't seen Kushina in months and was completely shocked when we told her about the results of her autopsy. She actually wanted to see for herself and examinated the body a second time with our doctor, believe me, Minato really went out of his way to assure himself that no one knew of the pregnancy"

Yamato hummed in acknowledgement, he understood the situation was pretty messed up.

"So no one ever thought this was important during all these years?" he asked, shocked that the police department wouldn't investigate something like that further. It wasn't a small detail, because, if that had really been the case, than it wasn't just murder they needed to investigate.

"There were no records, nothing that made us suspect of child abduction. We had no elements to put up a case"

"But, if Kushina did give birth, what ever happened to that child?"

Kakashi sighed again, closing his eyes as he thought of a decent answer to his boyfriend's question. Many times across the years he had wondered about the same thing, he had racked his brain along with his teammates and superiors, even Fugaku, who had been as shocked as anyone else, couldn't find ananswer, and he, along with Kakashi himself had been one of the closest people to the Namikaze.

"Wait a second… " Kakashi muttered, gripping the handle of his chair with his fingers, as something came to his mind,his upper body jerking towards the desk, almost pushing Tenzo down from his lap as he reached for his phone, immediately unblocking it with his finger immediately searching through his contacts for the number, when he found it he dialed it and sighed as he heard the first ring,fortunately he didn't have to wait much to get an answer.

"Goddammit Kakashi, do you know what time it is?" Asuma's gruff voice answered, and Kakashi rolled his eyes at that, anytime before eleven o'clock would be too early for his colleague and friend.

"I'm sorry to disturb you at this ungodly hour, but I need to ask you a favor"

Asuma stayed quiet for a couple of seconds, and Kakashi almost feared he was going to hang up on him, it wouldn't be the first time it happened after all. He heard a sigh on the other side, before Asuma spoke again.

8"Fine, what could I possibly do for you?"

"I need mayor Sarutobi's personal phone number, I need to call him immediately about an important issue"

Even Yamato raised a shocked brow at that, and Kakashi could only hope his old friend would accept his request. Mayor Sarutobi didn't hand out his number to everybody, only a selected few had it, and he was not amongst them, although he had nothing but respect from the elderly man.

"What? You want my dad's phone number? Can't you call him in his office on Monday?"

"It's about the Namikaze case"

"What? Couldn't you say so immediately? Have you got a pen write it down it's… "

Kakashi reached for a pen, and Yamato offered a sheet of paper where he could write it down.

"Thanks Asuma, I owe you" Kakashi thanked his friend, knowing he would probably have to pay him back in some ways, after all, getting the mayor's number wasn't usually this easy, Asuma wouldn't just give it out that easily, unless he was sure it was important.

"What did you find that was is so important that you need to speak to my old man this early in the morning? Have you been up all night again?"

Asuma brushed him off, he was also working on the case with the rest of the team, and of course he would want more information.

"Don't worry Asuma, I will fill everyone up on Monday, I just need to investigate more"

"Damn Hatake, you really need to learn to enjoy your free time more"

Kakashi simply chuckled at his friend's words, he had been telling him the same thing for years now, and he knew as well as he did that he wouldn't listen.

"I know, I think Yamato agrees with you"

"Yeah, see ya Kakashi, and tell him that he should force you to take a break"

"I think he might do that, or kidnap me and isolate me from anything thay is closely related to work "

He smiled at Yamato's snort at his words, despite knowing that deep down he agreed with them completely.

"He should! You damn night owl! It's your day off! You can't constantly keep your mind on work! It will drive you crazy, and it won't bring back Minato, Kakashi, you know that"

The grey haired man sighed into the phone, he knew thar like Yamato, Asuma was just worried about him.

"Thanks, see you on Monday"

He didn't even give his friend time to answer, he was so impatient to make the other phone call, aware that the Mayor might not appreciate him calling so early in the morning and disturb his only day off.

Tenzo eyed him for a long moment as he watched him compose the number and then stood up with a sigh.

"I will go and make fresh coffee, this will probably be a long day"

Kakashi thanked him with a smile, his eyes lightning up when he received a small one from his boyfriend as he leaned back to kiss him on the forehead.

"You don't have to stay Tenzo, you should relax, it's your day off too"

The man shook his head as he ruffled the grey hair with affection, pressing his lips to Kakashi's.

"I will be back with more cofee" he simply said before exiting the room with a fast pace, followed by Kakashi's gaze, but he didn't lose time, as soon as the other man walked out, he dialed up the number, and listened to the rings holding his breath hoping Sarutobi answered.

"Hello? Who is this?"

The elderly voice spoke through the phone, sounding surprised and tired, as if he had woken him up, which he might have, seen the early hour.

"Mayor Sarutobi, I'm sorry to bother you at such a time, but I need some information from you that might help in the Namikaze case"

He hoped

The line remained silent for a few seconds, in which Kakashi Kakashi held his breath, before he heard a stifled yawn, before the mayor spoke

"Hatake? That is a weird request, since last time we spoke I was the one in need of information"

"Mayor Sarutobi, this is something only you could have, and it might lead us somewhere with the code you are looking for so desperately"

Kakashi explained, hoping that it worked. If he was correct, this lead might gave them the answers they had been searching for years.

"And what could it possibly be?"

"I need Jiraya's location. I know you know where he is, and I think he might be the only one able to answer some of our questions"

Itachi was feeling awful that morning, he hadn't slept all night, not that was something new, he rarely managed to get a goodnight sleep, but it usually never affected him that much. He could go days without sleeping more than two or three hours a nights and be completely fine.

Or maybe it was just that he didn't really want to be where he was, stuck in the room usually Akatsuki used for secret meetings, which was actually more of a bunker that smell of mildew.

Pain still hadn't showed his face, which was irritating since he didn't wish to stay in that place for more than necessary, and no one could leave till he got there and got this nonsense over

"What the fuck do you think this is about?"

Kisame had been quietly sitting next to him, when he finally adressed the raven, huffing as he tried to get comfortable on his chair. Itachi couldn't blame him for that, those chairs were uncomfortable as hell, and they had been sitting there for more than twenty minutes.

Itachi scoffed, and crossed his arms on his chest, as he closed his eyes, trying to soothe his headache.

"Who knows… Pain is unpredictable"

Kisame hummed in agreement, just like everybody else, he couldn't wait to get out of there, he was sure that Pain had a mission for them, and an important one too, or he wouldn't have called all of them to meet him there.

Hidan was the only one who was grinning, probably excited to get some action. The bastard was a damn psychopath, probably the only one in that room who enjoyed the missions Pain assigned them with, no matter how dangerous or cruel they might be. The man didn't seem to have a conscience at all.

"I hope we get to kill someone, it has been quite some fucking time since I got to feel the warmth of blood on my hands, Jashin is not happy with the lack of sacrifices, and neither am I" he scowled, leaning back on the chair, his arms crossee behind his head and his eyes closed.

"That damn God you so fondly follow is quite the serial killer, you're all psychos in that sect of yours"

Kakuzu, who was sitting next to him with his arms crossed grumbled. He was Hidan's usual partner, mostly because he was the only onr who could put up with his shenanigans, and also because Kakuzu couldn't actually kill him as he had killed all his previous partners, Hidan's fighting style complemented Kakuzu, so Pain had the bright idea to pair the two freaks up. Which everyone was glad for, since anyone, Itachi included, didn't really want to deal with the religious bastard.

"Don't you fucking insult Jashin you motherfucker! I will slit your throat open faster than you can bat an eyelash!"

Hidan clutched his scythe, aiming it towards the other's neck, who didn't even flinch at the gesture, he looked anything but scared, which was surprising since the damn blade pressed against his skin was impressive.

"Sit your ass down and stop acting like an idiot, the boss will be here any minute now"

Itachi raised a brow, and Kisame gasped, which was difficult not to notice, since it had been so damn loud.

"You're going to get yourself killed one day" the blue haired man muttered, and Itachi let out a snort at his words.

"Well, I'm not going to bury that shitty body, so Hidan better control his urges" he added, ignoring the Uchiha's glare.

"Tsk… as if he could really kill me" Kakuzu scoffed, his green eyes shining wickedly at Kisame who ignored him

"Want me to try again dick head?" Hidan pressed the blade a little more tighter against Kakuzu's slin, breaking through a surface making a line of blood trickle down the side of his neck, although no reaction came from the man, who simply pushed the offending thing away with a hand.

"Fuck, stop it, I'm not cleaning that shit up!"

"Assholes" Sasori muttered under his breath, sitting in front of them he looked completely bored,more interested on the nervous blonde sitting next to him.

"This is starting to get boring I have better things to do than chase people for the boss, or watching two idiots attemot to kill each other. Just do it and get it over with!"

he tapped his fingers on the table, huffing in annoyance, his blonde bangs covering half of his young looking face. He was the youngest of the group along with Itachi who was only a few years older than him.

"Stop complaining, I'm sure the shit that you call art can wait a couple of days, is not like anybody cares to see those ugly sculptures anyway"

Kisame chuckled loudly at Sasori's words, and even Itachi smirked at them, which irritated the blonde even more.

"You're one to talk, those damn dolls of yours are so damn ugly they give me the creeps!"

"Better than the things you create which you regularly destroy because even you know they are so fucking ugly, no one would want to see them!"

"I destroy them because that's what art is! It isn't supposed to last forever! Art is a moment, art is an explosion!"

Deidara stood up in triumph, his hands mimicking an explosion and a crazed look as he spoke passionately about his art, as he always got when he discussed about the subject with Sasori, who looked more than a little annoyed.

"Not this fucking shit again!" Zetsu tried to cover his ears with his arms in an attempt of suppressing the angry voices.

"What is all this confusion? I Can't leave you in a room for a couple of minutes that you're all at each other's throats. What a disappointment"

The calm voice broke through the yelling, and in a matter of seconds, everyone was staring towards the door, where a pale man with orange short hair, grey eyes with numerous piercings all over his face was staring at them with an unimpressed face. Behind him, a woman with blue hair was staring at them with almost the same expression.

Everybody immediately shut their mouths, Deidara the only one that rrsisted a little bit, and just glared at Sasori, clenching his jaw at the man and sitting back in his chair with a thump.

"So, why did you call us all here for, Pain?" Kakuzu leaned back in his chair, and crossed his fingers leaning his elbows on the table,his green eyes concentrated on the newly arrived man, that was apparently taking his time, since he still had to explain the reason why he had called them all for that meeting.

Usually he wouldn't even need to sit down, he would just tell them what he wanted them to do and would get out, he wouldn't even come most of the times, and had Konan tell them what to do in his place, other times he would just call the person he wanted to do the job and that was it.

"I was just about to get to it, you know I don't like to waste my time in pleasantries."

He finally sat down, taking out a folder from under his jacket, and rested it in front of him on the table, as he eyed all the men that were now staring curiously at the file, Itachi, who was one of the closest, sittibg right at Pain's left, raised a brow once the man opened and a picture of a very familiar person was on the first page.

"I rarely like to take assignments, as you know, I don't offer my services to anyone, but, I have been contacted by a very influential person that apparently really needs our abilities to solve a problem for him. I don't know who this person is, he wouldn't reveal his identity, but I assure you he has enough power to put all of his in jail if he so wished for, after all, he is the ond that has been protecting our freedom for so long. Apparently now he wants me to pay him back"

There was a very heavy silence after he finished speaking, only broken by Deidara's loud gasp and Hidan's scoff.

"We owe the man a favor, right, so, who do we have to kill?" the albino was itching to leave, and he gripped his ax tightly obviously nervous. His body stiffened more at Pain's sharp gaze, which was pointed directly at him. Konan, who had been still for all the time glared also.

"There's no one to kill. For now at least." She explained, and Pain sighed at her words, directing his gaze at the folder in his hands and finally opening it, taking out some files.

"You all know who Minato Namikaze was right?" Pain asked, not raising his eyes from the papers in his hands.

"Of course, what does he have to do with anything? The man has been dead for over twenty years" Kakuzu leaned back in his chair, he was the oldest of the group, and of course would remember the events that had occurred years before.

"Apparently, before his death he left behind some very important documents that no one had known about until they mysteriously appeared in the hands of the police department of Konoha, before disappearing again four years ago."

Pain's gaze pointedly stopped on Itachi, who looked back with a pointed look of his own.

Pain looked away again, clearing his throat and handing everyone a stapled block of papers.

"We need to find those documents before the police does" he paused looking at every single person in the room with his grey deep eyes. No one moved, tensing the atmosphere even more than it already was.

"The search for code Kyuuby starts now"

Author's note:

Hello to everyone, I have been meaning to post this a little while ago, but unfortunately I had some things to do that got in the way, so I had to delay.

I am not very satisfied of this chapter but it's necessary for the story's progress and also because it explains a few things, like how the Akatsuki managed to avoid getting arrested for this long.

Anyway, I hope you like it! And I hope ti hear from you with thoughts and criticism!

Read and review folks!

Till the next time!

Darkshadows92


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Naruko was changing in the small locker room, after finishing her morning shift at the hospital, she was taking her time, waiting for Sakura to meet her, oso she could finally talk to her friend, who had looked glum all morning, barely smiling, and obviously distracted by something. Naruko didn't need to be a genius to figure out it had something to do with Sasuke, who hadn't been answering his phone for the last couple of days. His attitude concerned the blonde girl was almost tempted to go to his house, and give him an ass whooping for making everybody worry about him.She was just closing her locker, when Sakura finally walked in, letting out a sigh as she passed her, barely noticing her standing there, as she got out of her uniform, her brows knitted together as if she was deeply thinking about something, that was clearly bothering her greatly. Her lips stretched into a grim straight line, as she nervously played with a loose strand of her short pink hair, a nervous habit she had picked up as a child.Naruko closed the locker behind her, pulling her bag out, making noise on purpose, but Sakura didn't even flinch, too immersed in whatever was on her mind, that Naruko could have been flying around the room and she wouldn't have noticed, distraught as she was.Naruko gave her a questioning look, as she evaluated the best way to confront her friend, knowing Sakura, she would probably just brush her off if she asked her what the problem was so directly, so she would probably have to go around it a little bit, and get the answers out of here subtly. Yes, that was the best way she could go about it. Satisfied of her reasoning, because despite what everybody said, she wasn't as dense as she came off, and she would prove that to everyone, using her newfound sensitivity to help her best friend that was obviously in pain.Determined, she walked over to where her friend was fumbling with something into her own little cabinet, unaware of Naruko's resolve, she didn't even notice the blonde girl had moved at all, and that she was just a few steps behind her now."Sakura-chan?" Naruko called quietly , trying to get attention from the girl, voice low and soft, slightly laced with worry. Seeing as she didn't get a response, Naruko impatiently nudged the pink haired girl on her right shoulder, who finally turned to look at her, surprise clear on her face, as she met the blonde's wide blue eyes.Naruko smiled brighter once she realized she had her friend's attention, and lifted her arm to rub the back of her head with her hand, elbow up in the air, in a typical Naruko pose."Hey Sakura-chan! Are you okay?" she asked, her grin spreading wider as she rocked on her feet, unable to sit still.Sakura's eyes narrowed on the blonde for a couple of long seconds, which preoccupied the Uzumaki, who tilted her head on the side with a puzzled expression as she waited for her to say something , She finally let out a sigh and slumped her shoulders in defeat."It's obvious I guess, isn't it?" she answered, her voice slightly cracking as she spoke, avoiding the blonde's gaze, as she flicked back a strand of pink hair that had slipped from her red headband."Your face looks terrible, you look like you haven't slept for days!" so much for Naruko's sensitivity, to think that she had been doing so well.Sakura grunted hearing her friend's words, it's not like she expected anything else from the blonde, it was Naruko after all, everyone knew that she had no filters when she spoke, always saying the first thing that crossed her mind, and, to her defense, she did look like if a train had ran her over, the Uzumaki couldn't be fully blamed for pointing it out.Deciding to just ignore Naruko's dumb observations, she pulled her bag out from the locker closing it with a loud bang, and sighed, hinting for the other girl to follow her out, so they could talk on their way to the bus stop.They were out of the hospital, when she finally spoke."Sasuke doesn't answer his phone. We haven't talked since the night of his fight with his brother, and I am terribly worried for him"Sakura was obviously holding back tears, and she hid her face behind her hair on their way to the bus stop, doing her best to make it less noticeable. Naruko could tell though, and instantly felt guilty. If she hadn't forced Sasuke to go with her at the bar that night he wouldn't have met his brother."Have you tried going to his house? Maybe his phone has problems or something…" Naruko knew that she was just trying to find some excuses, she knew the Uchiha was simply ignoring everyone around him, he hadn't been answering when she called either, and she had been trying to hold herself back trying not to call him twenty times a day.

If Sasuke had really wanted to contact them he would have, and, knowing the Uchiha he was probably just sitting in his room brooding, offended and ashamed of what had happened, and had retreated into his apathetic self.Sakura nodded sadly "Yeah…he asked the cleaning lady to lie and tell me he wasn't home. I heard his voice in the background, I'm sure he doesn't know I heard him." she explained with a sigh. She knew Sasuke well enough to know that it was a lie even if she hadn't heard him, but it still hurt. She had figured that if someone could goad him to open up, it would be her, since she was the closest person to him, except for Naruko, but she wasn'thaving much success either.

"That damn Teme" Naruko groaned, unaware of Sakura's thoughts, her hands balled into fists as she felt rage towards her stubborn dumb dark haired friend,shr she had simply had enough, it had been almost two weeks now since they last heard from him.

"I'm going to drag him out of his damned room and knock some sense into his thick skull! Even if I have to knock down the gate and bring down the door!" she muttered, as she started to march in the direction of the Uchiha's mansion, but was stopped by Sakura, who unexpectedly grabbed her by the shoulder.

"No! Naruko… I know you care about Sasuke… but.. I think we should give him some more space, at least another two or three days to ponder on his feelings and on the situation , he might reach out to us on his own once he figures things out."

Naruko's eyes widened and she scowled at her friend, unhappy that she had stopped her from her intent of beating some sense into the Uchiha.

"it's already been two weeks!" the blonde protested,

"I promised that I wouldn't let him go down into his path of self destruction again! You know how's that going to end! You already told me what happened the first time!"

Sakura forced a smile, trying to reassure the blonde and give herself a little bit of strength. For how much she loved Sasuke, she knew that the best solution was to try and give him some more time, at least she hoped it was the best solution.

"You know how Sasuke is, sometimes he just needs time to think"

"Still, you shouldn't let him treat you that way, Sakura-chan! Every time something like this happens, you accept it. You should really confront him about it." the blonde sighed, too many times she had seen Sakura act this way because of Sasuke, and despite him being her best friend, she still didn't approve of the way he treated Sakura in his bad days. He would ignore her for days, and she would always justify him, ignoring her own hurt feelings. To the blonde, it was toxic, the type of relationship those two had was, well, very peculiar. Sasuke was a difficult person to be around, especially because of all his unresolved issues with his brother, and not so unveiled problems in his family.

Meeting Itachi again, after all that time, hadn't done any good to the young Uchiha, that much was obvious to the blonde, who felt a bout of anger, as she relived the fight she had witnessed between the two brothers, it was as if it was happening again, in front of her eyes.

She couldn't forget Itachi's apathetic eyes and emotionless expression during his brawl with his younger brother, or his smirk when she had confronted him outside, and the delusion she still felt when she learnt he was the same person who had saved her so many years ago, she couldn't believe it, and it had made her really want to punch that stupid smug grin off his pretty face.

He would deserve it, it was his fault if Sasuke was in that state, his actions were causing grief to both her best friends. She really hoped he could rot in hell, that's where he deserved to be. She was surprised of herself, she hardly ever hated people, always trying to find a justification or good in people, but with Itachi… she couldn't avoid but feel anger when she thought about him, especially after the other night, when he had so casually insulted her and acted as if nothing had happened.

"I know he's difficult to be with…" Sakura started, eyes watering as she thought about her black haired boyfriend, who at that moment was probably locked in his room, ignoring everything and everyone. His parents were probably too wrapped up in their own problems to bother with him, and probably hadn't even realized he was suffering. How could she give up like that and leave him face all that on his own?

It made her stomach twist in discomfort as she thought about it. She couldn't leave him alone…even if he didn't want to see her.

"You're right you know.."she suddenly said, arousing curiosity in the blonde girl, who held back a gasp, her face expressing her surprise perfectly.

"Right about what?" Naruko was confused, it was rare that someone said she was right about something, and to be honest, she had no idea what Sakura was talking about, and the pink haired girl chuckled at her funny expression.

"I should go see Sasuke" she explained with a smile, and the other girl opened her mouth in understanding as if wanting to say something before shutting it again to give Sakura one of those heartwarming smiles of hers that could lit up a room.

"I knew you would do the right thing Sakura-chan, just let me know how things work out" she said, holding back the impulse to offer her help. It's not like she didn't want to go see Sasuke, actually, she really wanted to go to give him a well deserved punch in the face, but, she knew that this was the time to step back and let Sakura deal with the moody Uchiha, she could always punch Sasuke later, once the air between him and the pink haired girl was cleared.

"You don't mind waiting for the bus on your own do you?" Sakura asked, she felt slightly guilty for abandoning her friend, but she couldn't wait another minute, scared that she would lose her determination to pull through with her plans, Naruko, on the other side, was sure of Sakura's success.

"Not a problem, it should be here any minute now anyway, go to your Sasuke-kun, and tell the bastard to call me when he's done being a asshole"

The blonde answered with her typical grin and Sakura blushed at Naruko teasing her, using the formal way she used to adress Sasuke before they got together.

With a bit of a frown, she shared a quick hug with the blonde before running off to where her own car was parked.

Naruko waved with her free hand as she slipped the other into the pocket of her purse, fishing for her phone so she could check the time. The bus was running late, it was hot that day, and she couldn't wait to get home to eat something and rest for a couple of hours, before heading out to work again.

She huffed, her stomach was rumbling and her legs were bothering her, and she wished she could sit down on the edge of the burning hot sidewalk. Sweat was starting to stick to her orange t-shirt, and she wished she had asked Sakura to give her a ride home.

"It's so hot!" she groaned, wiping a layer of sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, wishing she had brought with her a bottle of water, she was getting thirsty standing under the hot sun, and started fanning herself with a piece of paper she had in hand. It helped relieve the heat a little bit, and she was so engrossed in what she was doing, she didn't realize someone was calling her until

she felt someone tap their fingers softly on her left shoulder.

She froze, turning around so quickly she barely tripped but luckily this person grabbed her by the shoulders steadying her.

Naruko was grateful for that, she would have really hated to fall on her face.

She finally raised her gaze, to see who had scared

her to death and saved her at the same time, and blinked when she met worried sea foam color eyes looking back at her, and she took a breath, as she recognized the guy she had met not too long ago at Ichiraku's, and suddenly Sakura, Sasuke and everything that had been going on slipped to the back of her mind.

"Gaara?" she blinked again, surprised she could even remember his name, usually she didn't have very good memory.

"Are you all right? I didn't mean to scare you"

He looked mortified, and Naruko felt sorry for her outburst,

"I'm so sorry, I called you and-" he tried to continue but she chuckled, covering her mouth with her hand.

"No need to apologize, see? I'm ok! I should actually thank you for keeping me on my feet!" she smiled brightly rubbing the back of her neck with a hand, which made both of them notice his hands were still gripping her shoulders.

Realizing his mistake, Gaara immediately pulled off with a murmured sorry, and cleared his throat to fill the awkward silence, looking down, towards his shoes.

"After I almost made you trip" he precised shyly, but blonde just stared at him with a raised eyebrow, wanting nothing more than to forget the almost accident

"So… what were you doing around here?" Naruko could feel the tension coming from the boy, so, she decided to break it, and get him out of his reverie.

"Oh… my brother Kankuro lives close by, he's working right now so I was about to go and look for somewhere where I could get some lunch" he explained with his quiet tone, and just a slight hint of a shy smile.

His voice really had a soothing ring to it, he seemed so calm as he spoke, despite his face and body showing that he was everything but.

"Oh, there's a very good restaurant close by you should really go there and try! Or the ramen place is close by, you know, the one where we met!" she suggested, she was so hungry herself, she was actually drooling just thinking about food, and her stomach decided to make everyone aware of it rumbling loudly.

Embarrassed, Naruko blushed up to the tip of her ears, trying to hide her shame with a nervous grin

"Sorry….I didn't eat much today" she rubbed her flat belly as she said so, hoping Gaara wouldn't notice how truly famished she was.

"You didn't have lunch either?"he asked, looking down at her with a concerned expression, that made her feel weird, and her cheeks probably felt like they were burning up because of that look.

"Uhmm… no, not really, I just finished working actually…"

she explained as she fiddled with her fingers, kicking herself mentally for feeling conscious about herself so suddenly. Usually she didn't care much about her looks, but now, she wished she had at least checked her appearance in a mirror before leaving the hospital,

Gaara though didn't seem to mind, he found her beautiful with her unruly hair and blue eyes shining so bright they could probably lit up a room.

Her eyes widened and her expression turned into a serious one as she thought hardly about something, and Gaara could only patiently wait for her to speak up again. He wasn't good with casual conversation, especially when it concerned the opposite sex.

"We should go together! You still haven't had lunch and neither did I"

Gaara blushed, as he stared wide eyed at the excited girl, just slightly ashamed of not having thought about inviting her himself.

"I'm not taking no as an answer" she cleared with a small wink and a toothy grin, and he could only nod not really sure of what to answer.

"O-of course" he finally said, rousing another bout of excitement from the blonde who immediately grabbed his right hand and dragged him behind her towards the small ramen stand. Apparently it was all the confirmation she had needed and Gaara could only smile at her enthusiasm, it was terribly contagious after all.

"Good! We will have fun! Believe it!"

Sakura was in front of the Uchiha's gate, just staring at it, unsure of how to proceed from here.

She had felt so sure of how to handle the situation earlier with Naruko, but now that she was here, all her confidence she had felt had vanished.

The truth was, that she had hoped that giving Sasuke space, he would be the one to reach for help when he was ready to talk, and she would have been ready

To listen to anything and help him the best way she could. Unfortunately though, Sasuke didn't work that way, and maybe for once her blonde friend had been right. Sasuke needed to be shaken up, to be pulled out from that abyss he had let himself drown in.

The problem was, that she wasn't sure she could be the person to do so. She couldn't understand what Sasuke was feeling. Her life hadn't been marked by tragedy, unlike Sasuke's and Naruko's. Her family was overbearing and maybe a little extravagant, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Naruko having gone through a much tougher path than even Sasuke, could empathize with him in a way that she couldn't.

"Maybe this was a mistake…"

She bit her bottom lip, for once she wished she really listened to her friend, although she couldn't hide behind the blonde forever, she needed to be stronger, and be the one to face Sasuke.

"Sakura?"

The pink haired girl gasped hearing her name, and turned towards the source of the voice, blinking at the beatiful black haired woman who was smiling sweetly at her.

"Mrs Uchiha?" She asked, her eyebrows shooting up for the surprise, she should have probably expected to meet Sasuke's mother in front of the family's ouse.

The woman tilted her head to the side, her soft motherly smile still on her thin lips, and made her way towards the gate, pulling out a key from her purse , and only then did Sakura notice she was holding grocery bags in her other hand.

"It's nice to meet you here, come in, It will be good for Sasuke to see you"

She invited her in with a soft nod of her head, her expression gentle, but Sakura could see the wrinkles on her forehead that indicated her worry.

"Of course, let me help you with those bags, Mrs Uchiha"

She walked up to her and took some of the bags from her hands, the woman letting her do so without protest.

"Maybe you can tell me the reason why Sasuke has been acting so… well, he's been very depressed lately"

Mikoto sighed as she opened the door to the house, walking through it quickly, Sakura behind her, trying to figure out her thoughts, and especially how to explain the situation to the woman. She wasn't surprised Sasuke hadn't said anything , but how could she tell to

Sasuke's mother that the reason why her younger son was acting so strangely was that Itachi, who she believed to be innocent and still the gentle boy she had raised, had beaten him up for no reason? Making him relive the terrible experience of four years ago?

This wasn't going to be easy at all.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"Have you finished looking around? I'm starting to feel weird, standing around here"

He was standing guard as the dark haired man snooped around, since he was the one who knew where to look.

Itachi rolled his eyes, as he tried to ignore Kisame's gruff voice, he was right in the middle of something important , not really the more appropriate moment for his partner to bother him.

He and the tall weird looking man were on a mission trying to retrieve the documents Pain so desperately wanted, and Itachi's first step was to search in the place they had been seen for the last time. Which was Konoha's secret services headquarters, situated right in the core of the police central department, where not only his former office used to be, but his father's was not very far from where they were.

To say that Itachi knew the building like the palm of his hand was no joke, but still, it wasn't safe for them to be there and it didn't help that it was the middle of the night, there was always someone guarding the archives, and someone like him and Kisame would be immediately recognized and arrested, and Itachi was sure Pain wouldn't appreciate it if they ended up getting locked up.

"Uchiha, I'm sure someone has noticed us by now and I would hate to get my good jacket dirty tonight"

Itachi sighed, as he replaced an old dusty set of files that had been left for who knows how long sitting on the desk. He was actually surprised they hadn't cleaned it up by now, how long had it been? Almost six years? And yet, everything still

Looked the same, almost as if Shisui would walk back in any minute now. He half smiled at the picture still sitting by the window, it had been taken on Shisui's and Hana's wedding day, he remembered it clearly, he had been the best man.

"Uchiha? Are you even listening to me?"

Itachi looked towards the gruff man, standing awkwardly in front of the barely opened door, standing guard as he did the searching.

Itachi flopped back his long black hair, and walked out the door, not caring that they were technically "undercover" and that anyone could see them and try to capture them, they were wanted criminals after all.

"They're not here, exactly as I had imagined." He stated, pushing back the last box.

Kisame huffed, as he quickly followed the black haired man, looking around suspiciously for any sign of movement. It was nighttime and the department wasn't heavily guarded during that time, but someone always loomed around, in case someone tried to break in. Which was exactly what they were doing.

"Why did we even bother then?"

Kisame asked, as his right hand fell on the helm of his Samehada as he heard the rustling movements of someone approaching. Apparently they had bene discovered, as voices started to sound closer, and an alarm boomed loudly all over the building.

The gruff man groaned at the sound, and Itachi stood quietly as he seemed to think about something, not looking as preoccupied as he probably should have been, since the building would be soon filled of agents.

"I needed to be sure" of course, cryptic answers were his specialty, Kisame had learnt to accept that with time, and it didn't even disturb him anymore.

"Of course" one positive thing about Kisame was that he never doubted Itachi's moves, following him in every mission giving the younger man his full trust. Even this time, he had blindly followed Itachi in this mission that anyone would have labeled as suicidal, the dark haired man was known for being able to escape any situation, but this time it looked like it wasn't going to be a walk in the park, they were right in the core of Konoha's police forces, and Itachi's knowledge of the place was the only thing they could rely on.

The two started to run down the narrow hallways, Itachi leading the way, as Kisame followed shortly behind him, his hands never leaving the handle of his sword, and a clear sound of a gun being loaded covered the noise of their steps.

Itachi was a pro at doing more things at once, obviously he would never wait the last minute, and Kisame smirked as he saw Itachi point a gun in front of him, but he didn't use it as a guard approached them, pointing his own weapon at them,

forcing them to halt their run, as the man, although scared, would probably fire at them to save himself. Apparently he was aware of who was in front of them, as his hand shakes in fear.

Itachi caught that, and shot his partner a quick glance.

"If I use this it will give our position away" he lowered his gun, aware that they couldn't risk to be caught, they were too far from the exit, and too high up for them to try and escape from a window.

"Well, it seems like we will have no other choice, hm?"

He pulled out his sword with an excited grin on his lips. It was rare for him to actually have the chance to use it, everybody considered it out of style and not so practical.

"Don't waist time, we don't have the luxury to show off"

Itachi reprimanded him, reminding him just how precarious their situation was.

"Fine. Uchiha, you're such a party pooper"

The guard retreated, aware of the impending danger, his hand shaking more than before, Itachi was impressed, the man still spotted a determined expression, although there wasn't much he could do all alone

"You better surrender! The building will soon be full of Black Ops!" The man stammered, his eyes warily set on the tall man's sword.

Kisame snorted at that, but Itachi took the warning more seriously, he knew the man wasn't bluffing, he was sure the man had rung the alarm, letting everyone in the building know of the impending danger.

"He's right, whatever we have to do, we better do it quickly, we have no time to joke around"

"Damn it, we'll hear about this in the news tomorrow, Pain won't be happy" the tall man laughed, and Itachi ignored him, too concentrated on getting both of them out alive then listening to his friend's rambling nonsense. How Kisame even managed to find humor in such a situation was unknown to him.

"Nothing personal old man, but you're kinda standing in our way" Kisame had drawed out his sword, pointing it at the poor guard, who paled as seeing the monstrous thing Kisame was wielding, holding as if it had no weight.

"Stop showing off, we don't have much time" Itachi's eyes kept wandering from one side to the other, he was sure that the man was right and agents would be swarming the hallway soon, and they didn't want to be there when they did show up. They were good, but they couldn't compete with the whole black ops squad.

Kisame grinned and with no hesitation and the precision's and speed of a master sword man, he gashed the man on his left side, who barely had time to register what was going on, and finished him with a kick in the chest, that was sure to knock the breath out of him.

Itachi could only frown at the blood seeping copiously from the man's clothes, but only turned his back on the scene, and on Kisame and without a word started to flee out the back way, sure that his partner wasn't that far away from him.

They could barely see the street lights illuminating the road, from the big glass windows at the entrance signal that they weren't too far off, which made Itachi suspect. Their escape had been too easy, and they had only met one obstacle on their way, which was suspicious enough.. Especially in a place that was supposed to be full of agents.

Itachi stopped, sure that something was waiting for them close by.

"Kisame keep your eyes open." He whispered, tightening the hold on his gun.

"As always."

The duo slowed down their pace, and Itachi barely had the time to register as he heard the sound of a gun firing and a bullet passed dangerously close to his head. Two mere inches on the right and it would have hit him fully.

"Put your hands in the air and surrender, you have been caught" the familiar voice of Harare Kakashi came from in front of them, Itachi's eyebrow lifting the only sign of surprise

The man had aged terribly from how he remembered him, his eyes looked tired,and his face had more wrinkles on it now, and his face held a tint of disappointment as he scanned Itachi's cold dark eyes.

"Itachi, I'm not surprised to see you here. I was actually wondering when you would show up."

He should have known it was the older man on their trail, and he knew very well, that the grey haired man had missed his target on purpose. Kakashi didn't make mistakes unless he wanted to make them.

A line of agents were positioned behind the older man, only waiting for a his signal before attacking.

"If you put down your weapons, no harm will be done to you"

"I don't think we want to do that, mr Detective"

Kisame leaned on his sword, the same shit eating grin he always sported on his face when a challenge was drawn in front of him.

"So the rumors were true. You did join Akatsuki a bad choice for a guy like you, you could have been a prodigy, but you decided to affiliate yourself with scum."

Itachi snorted at that, his lips lifting into a malicious smile, as he pointed his gun at the man, that had once been his superior, something had caught his attention in the background, and he could only smirk, pointing his gun at Kakashi, who managed to sport a relaxed expression, as if he was ignoring the weapon pointed at him.

"It doesn't matter who I affiliate myself with, I will always be a step ahead of you."

Just as he finished talking, a loud explosion roared, and the loud sounds of glass breaking and pieces splattering all over was the only sound that could be heard, some of the man behind Kakashi were thrown upwards, by the force of the explosion, Kakashi himself falling to his knees, as the whole entrance was torn into pieces, momentarily losing sight of his targets, the commotion causing enough distraction for them to sneak out unnoticed.

He banged his fists to the floor in rage, as his eyes tried to see through the smoke and flames as loud sirens wailed in the distance.

"Un, Hope you're glad to see me, because I saved both your asses"

Deidara was grinning as he leaned against an old beat up car who they knew belonged to Sasori, the red haired man sitting in the driver's seat with a pair of sunglasses on, that reflected the flames that were taking over the building.

"Shut up blondie, we could have managed on our own" Kisame grumbled as he sneaked in the back of the car, sighing as he rested his back on the leather seat, angering the younger man who snorted in anger.

"Did you hear that danna? The stupid moron said they could have managed on their own! Well next time I won't come and help you and let the police deal with you, maybe they'll throw your ass in prison, you overgrown fish head!" He went on rambling until Sasori grew impatient and leaned over the passenger seat, pulling the man inside by his arm.

"Get in the fucking car and shut up, we don't want to be here when the whole police force of Konoha comes here"

His voice sounded bored, but they couldn't expect anything else from the unemotional bastard.

"And, I think Itachi is wounded, we need to take him to Kakuzu"

Deiadara gasped and turned in his seat to look at the Uchiha who was silently gripping his arm, and made an o with his mouth in wonder, almost hitting his face on the seat as Sasori found that was the right time to speed away from the scene. Deidara cursed him out before concentrating on the Uchiha

"Did you manage to get shot you dumb ass?"

"Tsk… I would worry more about you, once Pain learns about all the damage you did"

"I wouldn't have to do any damage if you didn't get caught, what were you doing in that damn place anyway?"

Itachi looked away, visibly irritated, his dark eyes lost in thought as he looked out the window, ignoring the searing pain in his arm. He had been hit on the way out, probably by a shard of that fell down from the windows as they escaped. It hurt like a bitch, and it would render him useless for a short period of time. It bothered him, since he didn't have that much of it to begin with.

"You could at least be thankful, I should have let

You two fuckers get caught"

The blond flopped back into his seat with his arms crossed pouting like a baby.

"Fuck off" Kisame kicked the seat in a not very gentle way, and Sasori took his glasses of, looking at them from the rear view mirror, his hazel eyes looked like they were burning.

"Don't you dare touch my precious seats with your fucking feet. Clear? Now apologize to my little bitch here, I hate to see him so distressed"

"man look at the road dammit"

Itachi sighed, he wasn't interested in getting involved in the damn conversation, but it was getting too stupid for his own tolerance.

"How did you even know where we were?"

Deidara paled, and Itachi noticed him and Sasori exchanging a quick glance, after that, the redhead huffed, clearly annoyed.

"My little fuck thingy here, overheard a discussion between you two. Apparently he wanted to make sure you were okay and, bribed me to take him here." He smirked in Deidara's direction, the blonde smiling shamelessly at the red headed man, making Kisame want to puke at the exchange. Itachi though, wasn't convinced, he wasn't satisfied with the explanation, and was sure the duo hid something.

"Hn, if it's like that then, I guess we really should thank you,

Deidara"

Still, he was going to keep his eyes open.

Sakura lied awake in her bed, she couldn't sleep as she thought about the afternoon she had spent at the Uchiha.

She hadn't had the courage to tell Mikoto the truth on why Sasuke had been acting so depressed lately. She felt that it wasn't her place, that she wouldn't have believed her, and now she felt like a coward.

They had wound up talking about simple things like school work and the future, not even once had they tried to breach the topic. The older woman had obviously really wanted to know, but Sakura wasn't sure how she would have taken it.

So, now here she was, wishing she had listened to Naruko, and maybe had the blonde help her while they told Mikoto, hoping that she, as a mother could help Sasuke. She hadn't seen her boyfriend at all during the time she had been at his house, and she felt even worse than before. She had at least wanted to catch a glimpse of him, just to make sure he was fine.

She scrolled through her phone her fingers ghosting over Sasuke's phone number wishing she could just call him like she used to do and talk about anything, while he lightly grunted on the phone, meaning he was listening to her as she was venting about something. It wasn't much, but to her, every little baby step between them had been progress that he was healing, at least, until the Itachi chapter was definitely closed and then he could really be back to how he used to be.

She sighed, covering her face with her arm, wishing nothing more than to sleep and wake up in a world where Itachi hadn't ruined Sasuke's life.

It was then, that her phone buzzed and she reluctantly picked up to see who was calling her at that time, sure it could only be Naruko, who was probably bored at work. It was after midnight, so she could be the only one awake.

She was surprised when she didn't read the blonde's name but Sasuke's, and it felt almost as if the phone was screaming at her to pick it up immediately. After all it had been more than two weeks since the last time she had talked to him.

"Hello? Sasuke- kun?" She whispered, hoping that it wasn't just a joke, and that Sasuke would actually talk to her.

A few seconds went by , and she finally could her the sound of someone breathing on the other end. Her green eyes tested up, and with a shaky voice she repeated Sasuke's name, and this time she actually received an answer.

"Sakura…" he stopped and she recognized Sasuke's almost monotone voice, but it was laced with something else, something that made it sound sweeter, more emotional

"Sasuke! I have been trying to call you for weeks! How are you? I… I was so worried!" The barriers she had tried to put on herself broke and her eyes and cheeks were wet with her tears.

"I know… I… I- I truly am sorry." And he really did sound it, and she couldn't relish in the feeling of his voice sounding so truthful for the first time, and in the fact that he was actually apologizing, it actually made her more suspicious because it sounded off, coming from him. It just wasn't him to call in the middle of the night to tell her he was sorry. Something had happened and she could feel the impending doom washing on her.

"If you want to open the door for me, I'm outside. I wasn't sure if you wanted to see me."

Her eyes widened and she ran to the door of her apartment, trying not to make noise, so she wouldn't wake up the other girls sleeping in their rooms, close to hers. She opened the door with too much force and threw herself at the Uchiha who looked like a beaten up dog.

All of this would have been incredibly romantic, he was hugging her tighter than usual, and was incredibly the one to kiss her first, if all of this hadn't been so out of character for him.

"I can't believe you're here, of course I wanted to see you, you big idiot!" she whispered, hugging him tightly her arms around his neck, as she took some steps back to look at him in the eyes, she noticed some slight changes. He was paler and his face looked tired, his hair were a little bit longer and had become even more unruly, and he looked like he had lost a little weight, but over all, it was still Sasuke in front of her.

"I'm here because I need to tell you something " and there it was. The thing she was expecting, because she had been sure that he hadn't suddenly appeared at her door just for no reason or because he wanted to see her. Not after more than two whole weeks of him giving her the cold shoulder.

"Let's go to my room first" she slid her hand into his, and led him through her small hall, closing the door behind them, and inventing him to sit on her bed, in front of her.

He looked a little uneasy, this was the first time he actually stepped into her room, and she couldn't shake off the thought that it might be the last.

"What did you want to talk to me about?"

"I heard you today at my house, talking to my mother… I just wanted to let you know how grateful I am that you didn't tell her what really happened"

She felt relief washing over her, maybe she had been wrong to be so worried.

"I figured it wasn't my place to tell her"

"Thank you… but, it made me realize … how stupid I was, to be so afraid, so humiliated" he paused for a few seconds looking up searching for Sakura's eyes.

"Afraid? You were nothing but afraid!"

"Sakura, Itachi has become stronger, the training he endured over the years… he wouldn't had no difficulties at my age. I am not at his level, not even close. I can't hope to be the one to stop him, not when I'm this weak."

"What… what are you trying to tell me?"

"I talked to my parents. I told them I'm not going to attend the police academy."

Sakura looked at him with wide eyes, not understanding what he was trying to tell her.

"I am going to enroll in the Black Ops. The ANBU. Konoha's most lethal squad. My father knows somebody that works there, and has passed my grades and scores and they accepted me. I leave in a few days for Oto"

 **Author's note:**

Hellooooo! After a long hiatus I'm glad to say I'm back! Slowly but surely I am still working at this story, and I even released the Italian version, which is my first language, whoever feels interested you can check it out on my profile. I am warning you, there will be slight changes, since I plan on rewriting it once I am done. I am satisfied of how it's going but I feel like I need to change a few details at the beginning and maybe check some mistakes and typos. Anyhow, I will worry about it once it's over!

Till next time my lovely readers!

Ja ne!


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"Oto? What… what do you mean?"

Poor Sakura was confused, of everything she had been expecting to hear, those were the last words she could have ever imagined. Her big green eyes looked glossy and she could hardly meet Sasuke's sorry expression.

He sighed and moved his hands to her shoulders, trying to comfort her massaging them lightly with his fingers.

"The anbu training grounds are situated there, along with the academy. There's a program for those who want to join. Itachi… he trained there too, and, you know how I want to be the one to finally drag him down. I need to be stronger than him"

Sakura gasped hearing that, shaking slightly at the awareness that he would soon leave her, because his goal was greater than what was blooming between them, and she would always come after it. It was something she had feared would happen, deep inside of her she knew, it would come to this.

It was always about Itachi after all. He was the invisible wall Sasuke was so desperately trying to reach and there wouldn't ever be anything else in his mind. Not until he would be finally able to overcome it, and until then, she would have to be put aside, like everything else in his life, as if she was just another obstacle, on his path of self destruction.

She hugged him, tighter than she ever had, tears rolling down her cheeks without control, as she clung to his shirt with her fists.

"Can't you just let go of your hate Sasuke! It's going to end up destroying your life! Can't you see! It has already begun!"

He wrapped his arms around her body, but not as tight as she had wished, she wanted to feel him all around her, aware that soon she wouldn't be able to do so.

"You don't understand. I need to do this" his tone now was colder, and Sakura knew that there was no reasoning with him when he got like that. But she couldn't control the emotions flowing through her like a river.

She wrapped her hands around herself, taking a few steps back, looking sternly at him from under her long lashes, trying to keep her composure.

"And what are you going to do, once you finally catch up with him? Are you going to be satisfied then Sasuke?"

He didn't answer, his eyes setting on hers, turning to their usual coldness. It was then that Sakura knew, she had already lost him to his purpose, because there was no way he would let go of all that hatred, not even for the sake of their relationship, and of everything they had built togetherz.

He tightened his hands in fists as he tried to control his emotions, that were causing a turmoil within him that he couldn't tame. It angered him, that she couldn't see his point.

"Itachi needs to pay for his sins"

His voice was almost trembling, and the green eyed girl was almost moved by the show of weakness. But it didn't last long, as he immediately caught himself and schooled his expression into a harder one. He was slowly putting walls between them, and as much as Sakura wanted to crush them down, she knew it was getting harder for her to breach through them.

She clutched her heart, in a last desperate attempt to get him to reason, to convince him that they could defeat his demons together, as they had managed to do up to that point.

"Please… I love you with all my heart, Sasuke! I will do anything to help you! Just… just let me stand beside you!"

"It's something I have to do on my own"

Sakura's breath got caught in her throat, at his words, letting out a small anguished sound a t what those words implied.

Suddenly everything turned quiet, as she tuned out all the noises that came from the city's life around them.

"So this is it then?"

The Uchiha didn't move, his eyes fixed on the ground between them. Sakura couldn't hold back tears anymore at his actions, so different from a mere minutes ago, when he had been so affectionate. She should have known that something was up then, for it was out fo character for him to show any emotion.

"I don't expect you to wait for me. The training will be long, and maybe, it's for the best that you spend some time away from me"

Sakura gaped at that, her whole body now shaking violently from his words, her heart slowly shattering at the thought of him leaving her.

In the worst case scenario she had always thought that they could have gone through his depression together, but it was something that was carved in his soul too deep for her to reach. Whatever Sasuke needed now, it wasn't her, and it was hard to accept and to understand. Ironically, the only person that could put a stop to all this, was also the one that had caused it. Itachi, his demise, was going to give Sasuke a breath of life, at least that's what he had convinced himself of.

The only thing she could do for now was to let him go.

"I will wait for you, Sasuke. I love you, you know that"

He gave her a long look, his eyes visible through his long silken bangs, were hiding so much sadness and so much despair that she couldn't stand to look at them for long, shying away from him, she covered her mouth with her hands to cover her sobs, the only other sound now, the police sirens howling in the distance, distracting her for a few seconds. When she turned her head to look back at Sasuke, she was surprised to see he wasn't there anymore. He was gone, vanished in the darkness of night.

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"Wow! I can't believe how much I ate! everything was so tasty! Did you like it Gaara?"

Naruko was softly patting her full tummy with an ecstatic expression on her bronzed face, that made the red head man smile softly at her, and he usually wasn't someone who gave out smiles that easily, but she had such a bright personality that it was just impossible to resist.

They had decided on eating at a near restaurant that Naruko had recommended, and were now seating down in one of the booths facing each other. Thankfully, it wasn't a busy night and Gaara could deem himself content.

The food was really good, and he was enjoying his time with the blonde girl, who had managed to make him feel comfortable and open up more than usual.

"Very good indeed. It reminds me of a place in Suna" he said absent mindlessly as he finished up his plate. He had revealed more of himself that he usually did with strangers, and still he didn't feel vulnerable as he usually did, he really wished he had more time to spend with her, to get to know her more and to get her to know him.

Naruko's eyes widened as she heard the name of the city that was famous for being situated in the middle of a desert, she was always excited to hear about new things, and her curiosity was sparked by his little allusions. One of her dreams was to see all the five nations after all. And she had promised herself that she would do that, once she had graduated.

"I forgot you come from there! How was it growing up in such a place? I heard it's very hot there!"

Gaara blinked in surprise.

"You've never been there?" Suna wasn't that far after all, and by the time most people were their age, had traveled back and forth a handful of times already.

The girl shook her head no, but her smile didn't falter, her bright blue eyes shining brightly as she looked out the window.

"But I will one day, believe me!" She said with enthusiasm, throwing her fist in the air as if she was challenging someone. She was so convincing that he could only nod with the hint of a smile on his lips, wondering what kind of life she had led up to that point. He had observed how protective her friends were of her, and he couldn't help but wonder the reason behind it.

"Suna is a huge metropolitan center. We nearly have everything you could ask for, and we attract a lot of outsiders who fascinated with the city, decide to stay and work and build their future there. But for me it was… well, I wouldn't say it was easy."

Gaara chuckled, his green eyes softening at the

now excited girl, he placed a hand under his chin

"I have to admit, I always felt like some sort of misfit growing up. As the son of one of the most important people in the city wasn't easy,I was expected to be more charismatic and aggressive, just like my father was. I guess I didn't live up to the expectations, because I was labeled as weird because of my shy and introverted nature. I didn't really have a lot of friends if any, to be honest"

Thinking back, he didn't really have a happy childhood.

Naruko's brows raised as she listened, feeling sympathy for the boy. There was so much she could relate to, it was almost like looking at her male counterpart.

"Yeah, People have nothing better to do than judge. But you are really a nice person Gaara, you shouldn't allow people to put you down, just because you don't meet their expectations."

Gaara felt his green eyes swell up with tears. In all these years, she was the first one to really try to understand him, and accept him for who he was. Even his brother and sister didn't, whom he loved dearly, had never really tried to understand him. They had always simply dismissed him as 'different' and had accepted that part of him, never really trying to know why he was the way he was.

"I grew up with no one you know. I never knew my parents, and the only person who cared for me at the orphanage, was old Hiruzen, who would come and check on me regularly. I don't really know why the mayor of Konoha would really care about a poor orphan, but after being placed in foster care I was finally adopted by a couple of bastards who only thought they could use me as their slave.

He disappeared after my adoption, and when I got these" her fingers ghosted over her marks for just a second, but long enough for Gaara to realize that it was still a fresh wound in her mind.

"No one was there for me, except my high school professor and the… the police officers that saved me that night. After all that trauma, the stupid judge decided that the circumstances where unclear, and I was placed with those insane bastards again. At least though, they didn't touch me again, and as soon as I could I moved out"

Gaara's mouth hanged open by hearing all this, her story, almost similar to his left him speechless and he wished he could pull her into his embrace because he could have never guessed that someone as happy and go lucky as Naruko, could hide such shadows within her.

"This guy… he was with me in the hospital…And he told me… he told me something that I will never forget" her expression was bitter now, and her smile faltered for a little bit, but Gaara didn't interrupt her, and simply listened.

"He said that I shouldn't let my past define me, and that I could become anything I wanted to be. I believed him you know, and I decided that I wanted to be like him and save lives. That's why I decided to go into the medical field"

Gaara smiled.

"I believe you will do good in whatever you choose Naruko."

He had felt so good in her company, that he wished they had time to stay a little longer, but it was already late, and he had to take her home, for he knew she had to get up early the next day.

"I'm sorry if I burdened you with my sad past, but I feel like we can relate to each other. We are similar, in the end"

"More than you think" he agreed, gifting her with a rare full smile, and her eyes twinkled as she hoped to hear more from him.

He saw the look in her eyes and gave a quiet light hearted laugh that lightened the heavy atmosphere.

"Maybe I should save the rest for another time, that way you will accept to go out with me again" he said calmly, masking his nervousness for her answer with his amused tone.

Naruko battled her eyelashes, her ocean blue eyes widening as much as possible at the red head's offer.

"You want to go out with me again?"

She asked with stupor in her voice. Nobody had ever wanted to go out with her, she was too noisy and too rough, and usually boys preferred to have her as a friend, because as Shikamaru often put it, she was "fucking scary"

Gaara chuckled at her question, and did something he usually never did, because he hated physical contact, and also because he was embarrassingly shy. He leaned a little bit over the table getting closer to the girl, who didn't move an inch, but felt her cheeks grow hot, and her palms her sweaty.

"Yes, I would really like that"

From that close, he was even more charming, she could see his big green eyes, they were perfectly oval shaped and she could see the various tones of green in them, because they were so uniquely different from any eyes she had ever seen and they were incredibly beautiful, so warm and enticing, that she almost felt lost looking into them for too long.

"I… I would like that very much too, Gaara"

He nodded, gifting her with another smile that made her feel giddy inside, even if she didn't really understand why.

"Thank you" one of his hands wandered on the table to find one of hers, and when he did he squeezed it softly. She was speechless at the simple but affectionate gesture. It was something unexpected that sparked a warm feeling to course through her body. It was new and she was relishing in the feeling of finally being accepted by someone just for who she was and not because of her troubled past. It never left her mind that people, although she knew they loved her, felt some kind of pity for her, so it was a nice change, that for once she didn't have to doubt that.

"Let's go, I will give you a ride home"

Gaara smiled at her again, and took her hand in his, and she relished at the warm contact. It felt good for once, to let someone take care of her.

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"Let's go you bastard, it's been a shitty night already"

Kisame yawned as they walked in the direction of their small apartment, where he couldn't wait to get himself in bed and relax. Especially after the earlier fluke with Konoha's police forces.

Itachi, who was walking silently behind him couldn't agree more. He was the one who had got shot in the arm, after all, the mere fact he was still walking after all that Kakuzu had done to treat his wound was impressive.

"You're alive back there? Is the blood loss affecting your brain in any way?"

Kisame said jokingly, as if the whole situation was amusing to him. Of course, he wasn't the one whose arm was hurting like a bitch, even if the Uchha managed to hold his stoic neutral expression he was still in a lot of pain.

Itachi just answered with a groan, not really in a mood to talk. The only uplifting part of that mission, had been that he had been able to get into Shisui's office and, without Kisame noticing, had been able to steal a part of his notes. He knew where to look for things, and it had been the reason why he had decided to infiltrate the district in the first place.

"Pain is going to give us a fine ass whipping, first thing tomorrow"

Itachi could only grunt at that, not really excited at the idea to face their leader, that would surely ask for explanations, and part of that would be because of stupid Deidara and his love for explosive rescue plans. He would never admit that if it wasn't for that, they might have been captured that night.

"Not very talkative, hm?"

Itachi was getting a headache, or maybe it was the painkillers that were just kicking in, but he wasn't sure he could handle another minute of Kisame's rambling.

The Hoshigaki though kept blabbering, unaware of Itachi's bad mood.

"Do you think they will be able to track us down this time, Uchiha? That grey haired dude recognized you"

He had a good point, but Itachi already knew it was impossible for various reasons. They had been able to hide for four years, and even if they had exposed themselves more than usual, it was very hard they would be captured

"You know that won't happen Kisame"

Itachi answered, not really feeling like getting into that topic, or into detail of why that was very unlikely to happen.

Kisame stopped suddenly, and turned around to face the black haired man, that simply kept walking, not really caring what had got him all worked up to make him act so dramatic all of a sudden.

"You don't happen to know who it is that is offering us protection, right Itachi"

Now, this sounded very specific to the Uchiha, who stopped to look back at his partner with unimpressed eyes. Kisame rarely questioned him, trusting him with everything and offering his loyalty in more than one occasion, so, that blunt question truly surprised him.

"No, and I don't really care to. Why do you assume I do?"

"Because Pain trusts you more than anyone else." Somehow, the black haired man, wasn't sure that was the real explanation. He resumed his walking, leaving a disgruntled Kisame behind him, still eager to find out if his doubts had any reason to exist. Not that Itachi cared to answer that for him.

"No one knows the extensions of Pain's connections. For all I know it could be anyone high up in the government"

"You really are something , Itachi" The tall man mused looking at his unimpressed companion whose only wish was to get home and forget about that night.

"Ah, if Kubikiri was open I would offer you a beer"

"I can't drink with my arm like this. Kakuzu said the medicine won't have any effect if I do"

Kisame turned around, his expression confused, and the Uchiha knew that whatever he was going to say, wouldn't be that bright.

"You got shot, do they even have medicine for that?"

Itachi just wished he could disappear. It wasn't enough that he had to walk home, because their ride, Deidara and Sasori had urgent needs they had to tend to and left them stranded at Kakuzu's place. He had to suffer the agony of dealing with Kisame's ignorance.

"Painkillers, and antibiotics so it doesn't get infected" If he had to explain it to to the fish head in front of him one more time, he wouldn't hesitate to pull out his gun and make him feel what it meant to have a wounded limb.

"Ah, they really have stuff for everything. Modern medicine really amazes me" he said it as if he had lived in the years when they didn't have all the technology they had now.

Itachi didn't bother to answer anymore after that, and apparently Kisame didn't care to dig any deeper, going back to his carefree behavior, lighting up a cigarette offering one to the Uchiha, that although could have really had one, refused, too tired and stressed to do anything, and he stopped, trying to calm his labored breathing, he was feeling fatigued and lightheaded, probably due to the blood loss, that although it hadn't been that much, still got to him.

Kisame was a little bit ahead of him, and he didn't notice his distress, and Itachi didn't do anything to make him notice it, aware that otherwise, the Hoshigaki would insist on supporting him, to help him walk, and Itachi didn't want any of that. He hated physical contact.

It was then, as his mind was a little clouded and he felt dizzy that he noticed a familiar blonde head, standing in front of what he knew was Haku and Zabuza's home, talking to a random red haired guy.

Itachi's eyes thinned as he tried to study their interaction, but his black eyes were mostly focused on the girl, who was now laughing about something the man had said. They looked rather comfortable with each other, talking closely, and by the way Naruko was touching his shoulder, he could tell they had spent some time together. He didn't know why the thought bothered him, he had spoken to the girl maybe once, if you over looked the fact they had met in the past, which he was determined to forget.

"Itachi you ok?"

He had been so concentrated on the girl, he didn't realize he was leaning against the wall of Kubikiri, breathing heavily, and that Kisame had ran back to check on him.

"Dude you look awful, even paler than usual, let's get you home"

He gathered l the Uchiha's smaller form in his arms and swung him over his shoulder, patting his back with a frown, thinking he might call Kakuzu once he put a dozed off Itachi in bed.

The two Akatsuki members, hadn't noticed the worried bright blue eyes that had followed the whole scene.

 **Author's note.**

I'm back!

Sorry for the long wait, I had some things to settle, and I've been really busy with school, work and stuff, but I haven't abandoned this story! I promise I will try to update more often!

Let me know if you like it! So read and review people!

Darkshadows92


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